Battling Garcia leaves it
late to grab 50 km victory
Spain's Jesus
Garcia, his arms punching high like a boxer,
battled his way out of the pack to win the men's
50km race in Podebrady today.
The 1993 World
Champion clocked 3:39:54 but it was the bravery
of his effort, which saw him move from seventh to
first place in the last 15 km, that delighted the
crowds lining the course in the Czech town.
After 44km of this
gruelling event Russia's Oleg Ishutkin led the
race with a 45 second advantage on his countryman
Nikolay Matyukhin with Poland' s Tomasz Lipiec a
clear third. It was then that Garcia, who had
been moving through the field with the 1995 World
Champion Valentin Kononen, made his decisive
effort.
With head bowed
and arms flailing Garcia attacked with every
ounce of energy. First he moved past Lipiec and
then he powered past Matyukhin.
Curiously, in a
race so long that it started in sunshine and
ended in a flurry of snow, the final 2 km lap
would prove decisive.
Ishutkin went
through the bell in 3:31:03 with Garcia now some
19 seconds behind, hurling his red gloves to the
ground for the last round. Steadily the gap was
closed, 16 seconds became 12 seconds and suddenly
a commanding lead seemed to have collapsed. As
the leader rounded a bend with perhaps 600 metres
left he looked back ... in despair as Garcia
closed on his shoulder.
Broken at last,
Ishutkin accepted defeat but as Garcia crossed
the line in triumph at least Ishutkin had the
consolation of helping Russia to team victory.
Kononen rallied well to take the bronze medal in
3:41:09 with Matyukhin fourth in 3:41:36.
In the team
competition the Slovak Republic finished second
ahead of Spain. A historic achievement and one
that delighted the large Slovakian contingent who
had made the journey to Podebrady.
The first half of
the race was dominated, surprisingly, by New
Zealander Craig Barrett. With the first 10km
reached in 45:26 by Mexico's German Sanchez,
Barrett injected a burst of pace at the 11 km and
by 13 km had built a huge 34 second lead.
The blond Barrett,
his technique relaxed and fluid, did not falter
and reached the halfway point in a speedy 1:49:40
- with over a minute lead over the chasing group.
But then as the early pace began to tell
Barrett's technique deteriorated and he began to
pick up warning cards.
At 31km, when the
chasing group of three Russians and defending
Champion Zhao Yongshen (who dropped out at 45km)
had whittled the lead down to 45 seconds, Barrett
received his third red card and his brave race
was over.
The "Lugano
Trophy" awarded on the basis of the combined
team scores of the 20km and 50km races, was won
by Russia. Mexico finished second and Belorus
third.
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