World 20km record holder Toshikazu Yamanishi and double world champion Maria Perez emerged victorious at the gran Premio Cantones, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold meeting held on Saturday in La Coruña.

Yamanishi’s win marks his third in the Spanish coastal city, following his previous successes in 2019 and 2024. Perez’s victory is her first in La Coruña, making her the first Spanish athlete to claim the top spot as 2010.

The men’s race began at a measured pace, with the initial circuits completed in 4:04, the leading contenders closely grouped. After a slightly quicker couple of laps, timed at 3:56/3:57, France’s Gabriel Bordier took the lead, creating a small gap. He reached the 5km mark in 20:02, three seconds ahead of the chasing pack led by Yamanishi.

bordier was caught approximately 26 minutes into the race, after wich Ecuador’s David Hurtado increased the tempo, reaching the halfway point in 39:47, five seconds ahead of a 20-man chase group. This group was eventually reduced after hurtado completed the 11th lap in a swift 3:50.

Yamanishi overtook Hurtado before the 13th kilometre, and his consistent pace reduced the leading group to seven athletes. This included the Chinese duo of Qiang Haifeng and Li Chenjie, Mexico’s Ricardo Ortiz, italy’s 2021 Olympic champion Massimo Stano, Spain’s Diego garcía, and Japan’s world 35km bronze medallist Masatora Kawano.

By the 15km mark, the clock showed 59:14. Stano, Haifeng, and García then began to lose ground as Yamanishi completed the 16th circuit in a rapid 3:47. Ortiz challenged Yamanishi for the subsequent two laps, but with approximately 1.3km remaining,Yamanishi broke away from the Mexican,completing a 3:46 penultimate lap.

Attention then shifted to the battle for second place between Ortiz and Kawano. Yamanishi crossed the finish line unchallenged in 1:18:15, while his compatriot overtook Ortiz in the final stretch, finishing four and six seconds behind, respectively.

“I felt strong but decided to wait until the last laps to attack,” said Yamanishi.”I’m not planning more competitions before the World Championships in Tokyo but I’ll likely do a training stint in altitude in Italy next month.”

Women’s Race: Perez Secures Victory on Home Soil

“I had already won Olympic and world titles but I had never succeeded here so this win is a dream come true.”
– maria Perez

The women’s race commenced at a slower pace, with the first kilometre covered in 4:42, led by China’s Na Wang.the pace increased slightly over the following laps, averaging between 4:28 and 4:32, which proved pleasant for Spain’s Maria Perez, Italy’s Antonella Palmisano, and Peru’s Kimberly Garcia, who reached the 5km mark in 22:44.

Garcia set the pace for the next several laps alongside Ecuador’s Paula Milena Torres, reaching the halfway point in 45:05. Defending champion García led,closely followed by China’s Liu Hong,Wu Quanming,and Peng Li,as well as Peru’s Evelyn Inga,while Pérez and Palmisano positioned themselves in the middle of the 25-woman leading group.

To the crowd’s delight, Pérez moved to the forefront shortly before the 13th kilometre, completing it in a quickest-to-that-point 4:16.The Spaniard’s acceleration reduced the leading group to four with approximately 4.5km remaining, including Wu, Peng, and Gonzalez, as Palmisano and Garcia struggled to maintain the pace.

Perez further increased her speed with laps of 4:13, 4:11, and a remarkable 4:07, distancing herself from all but Gonzalez with 3.5km to go. A 4:05 penultimate lap proved too challenging for Perez’s Mexican rival, and she maintained her lead until the end, winning in 1:27:22 to 1:27:32. Peng completed the podium, finishing 13 seconds later.

“I had already won Olympic and world titles but I had never succeeded here so this win is a dream come true,” said Perez, who recorded halves of 45:05 and 42:19. “I suffered a minor traffic accident last Monday in Madrid and had some niggles in my neck so I’m very proud to have overcome that setback and win today.”