Alembekova and Kirdyapkin take Russian Winter Walking titles
Russia's 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships 10km walk winner Elmira Alembekova showed great form when she clocked a super-fast 1:25:27 to win the Russian Winter Walking Championships title over 20km in Sochi on Friday.
Alembekova, who is still only 21, took full advantage of the absence of world and European champion Olga Kaniskina and the perfect conditions at the Black Sea resort to take more than two minutes off her previous best, set when winning the Russian Cup event in Voronovo last September, and move up to seventh on the all-time list for the event.
Yelena Lashmanova, Alembekova's successor as European junior champion in Tallinn last summer, had her first competitive outing as a senior, and also over the longer distance compared to the usual 10km contested on the roads by juniors, and crossed the line in second place in 1:26.30 while Irina Yumanova was a close third in 1:26:46, the later improving her personal best by almost three minutes.
The 2009 World Championships 50km gold medallist Sergey Kirdyapkin won over 35km in Sochi in 2:25:41, with Mikhail Ryzhov second in 2:25:58 and Ivan Noskov third in 2:26:32.
Alembekova, who is still only 21, took full advantage of the absence of world and European champion Olga Kaniskina and the perfect conditions at the Black Sea resort to take more than two minutes off her previous best, set when winning the Russian Cup event in Voronovo last September, and move up to seventh on the all-time list for the event.
Yelena Lashmanova, Alembekova's successor as European junior champion in Tallinn last summer, had her first competitive outing as a senior, and also over the longer distance compared to the usual 10km contested on the roads by juniors, and crossed the line in second place in 1:26.30 while Irina Yumanova was a close third in 1:26:46, the later improving her personal best by almost three minutes.
The 2009 World Championships 50km gold medallist Sergey Kirdyapkin won over 35km in Sochi in 2:25:41, with Mikhail Ryzhov second in 2:25:58 and Ivan Noskov third in 2:26:32.
