Trond Nymark of Norway wins the Tijuana 50km Race Walk (© www.conade.gob.mx)
Norway's Trond Nymark achieved his most important international win as he dominated the 50km race on the second and final day of the first leg of the 2005 IAAF Race Walking Challenge in this northern city, on the USA-Mexico border.
Nymark walked to victory in a commanding style and raised his hands happy to cross the finish line after a 3:46:05 effort on the Paseo de los Heroes Avenue.
The 28-year old posted his second fastest time ever - he has a personal best of 3:44:55 (2004) - and the quickest on the Tijuana 2km flat course to beat Spain's three-time World Championships medallist Jesus Garcia, who won here in 2003.
The seven-time Norwegian champion was eighth at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and 13th at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Before Tijuana, he was placed 30th in his event at the IAAF World Rankings.
Garcia finished second in 3:48:19, ahead of Mexico's Omar Zepeda, who improved his best time ever by six minutes (3:50:17) to secure the country's first spot in the team for the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.
A distant fourth was Guatemala's Luis Garcia, the Pan American Games bronze medallist, who clocked 3:58:22.
Of the 49 entrants from 14 nations, 29 started the race and only 14 finished. Notable DNF's were Germany's 2003 World Championships bronze medallist Andreas Erm, Mexico's defending champion German Sanchez, 20km specialist and early leader Alejandro Lopez, as well as Daniel Garcia, the 20km World champion in Athens'97 who returned to competition following a four-year absence to recover from a surgery.
Other pre-race favourites, like China's Shucai Xing and Chenglian Zhao, who clocked 3:37:58 and 3:38:56 a month ago at the Chinese Championships in Nanning, did not start.
Russia's Ilya Markov, the 1996 Olympic runner-up and the 1999 World 20km champion, and Nikolay Matyukhin, who claimed the 1999 World 50km silver, were also absent.
Trond Nymark completed the foreigners' dominance in Tijuana, a day after Germany's Melanie Seeger and Australia's 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Deakes claimed the top honours in the 20km.
Australia was the most successful country as another Athens medallist, IAAF World Rankings Event Leader Jane Saville was second in the women's race.
It is the first time in the three-year history of the event that Mexican athletes do not win any of the three events. They finished with a silver and two bronze medals.
None of the two defending champions present in Tijuana could repeat their 2004 wins and the city crowned three walkers who competed on their streets for the first time ever.
Ecuador's 1996 Olympic and 2003 World champion Jefferson Perez, who won here last year, had to miss the event due to a minor injury but he expects to travel to China for the third leg of the Challenge in Cixi City on 23 April.
The 2005 IAAF Race Walking Challenge now moves to Rio Major, Portugal (April 2), the second of a six-event series that will reach its climax during the World Championships in Athletics to be held in Helsinki, 6-14 August.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
Leading results
1. Trond Nymark (NOR) 3:46:05
2. Jesús García (ESP) 3:48:19
3. Omar Zepeda (MEX) 3:50:17 PB
4. Luis García (GUA) 3:58:22
5. Miguel Solís (MEX) 4:02:05
6. Claudio Vargas (MEX) 4:03:12
7. Jesús Sánchez (MEX) 4:08:07
8. Rogelio Sánchez (MEX) 4:09:52
9. Horacio Nava (MEX) 4:14:29
10. David López (MEX) 4:21:27