Flash interviews

Diego Giampaolo	17:10:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
10 Km Race Walk Men U20	1	Italy	42:16

This race is beautiful and I am glad I was able to visit Podebrady for the first time. It is a beautiful city. The Italian team here - we are a big family. We all are friends. My athletic idol is Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano. I train with them in Rome.

Perseus Karlström	15:59:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Men	2	Sweden	1:19:27

It is my fourth medal in a row at these championships so I am glad. Last three editions, I came stronger and stronger despite the fact that it was hotter and hotter. I got stronger each time. I felt strong even today but Fortunato is in his lifetime shape. I could not really do much to beat him. I did a very good effort. I was in the race and then I lost this title.  I have been training really hard for this race, maybe a little bit too hard, but we are trying to step up my training this year. So this race is obviously a good stepping stone towards the world championships. I was hoping to win but I will be back stronger in Budapest. Race walk is a very technical event but you also need to keep the focus. Maybe I lost my focus a little bit today and had tomake a ballance between emotions and my body.

Massimo Stano	15:51:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Men	3	Italy	1:20:07

Today, I am not happy about my performance. My training was going very well but today, after the tenth kilometre, I started to have a very bad feeling and I am not glad about this result. But I am happy for my team and my country. I do not know what happened on the course. I have to discuss it with my coach, with my team manager and we have to understand what happened. Next plan - maybe I will compete in La Coruna in two weeks and after Budapest - 20 and 35km is the schedule.

Francesco Fortunato	15:46:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Men	1	Italy	1:18:59

This was the race of my life. It is a personal best, very fast time, very fast course and it is a victory. I cannot be happier. I felt good and came with the strategy to try to get far away from my opponents. I am glad I could manage it in the last kilometres. Around the 15th km, I pushed a little bit more and this was my aim. It was an amazing and fast race. I just followed my feelings and my team mate Massimo Stano. I preffered to not to watch the times but I felt that it was fast. So I could be focused on just the feelings. I just kept my pace and that was enough to win the race. Today, it was my day. I live for this.

Ana Cabecinha	13:44:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Women	3	Portugal	1:29:35

I did not expect the race like this but I was enjoying it so much. I know that this is my last European Cup and I am so happy that I managed to compete here in Podebrady again. So it is great for me to finish on the third place. My plan is to end my career next year after Olympic Games. I like the race walk because this event is different than other athletic disciplines. The friendships are different in this sport and I like these competitions with these girls. I am happy to be here and to be a part of this.

Antonella Palmisano	13:37:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Women	2	Italy	1:29:19

To tell you the truth, I did not believe to reach this goal today. I was not expecting to do the minimum for the world championships today because I did not train as much as in the past because of the injury. In the end, it is the second place and I am over the moon because it is showing us that we are preparing the right way towards the world championships and the Olympic Games next year. Anything is possible. It is like a stepping stone towards some big perfromances in the future. Of course, in the back of my mind, I was hoping to win here for the third time but in the end, I am satisfied with this result. Podebrady is in my heart. I love Podebrady, I have so many nice, only positive memories from here.

Antigoni Ntrismpioti	13:30:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
20 Km Race Walk Women	1	Greece	1:29:17

I was ready to win. I worked very hard for this performance. Despite the fact that the weather did not help us a lot today, it was very hot, I managed to win and that is the most important thing. We had a very strong group in the front. I spent two months in Australia and had a very good training. Now, I train with a new coach from Australia and the cooperation is going very well. I like the new training plan. I was also in a good shape before, with my old coach - that is why I won the two medals last year. But now, it is like one step higher. I would like to put the level of this event very high. I want to train very hard to show some improvement at every race. My main goal is the Olympic Games and my mind is there.

Raquel González	10:52:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
35 Km Race Walk Women	2	Spain	2:45:42

Today, I competed for Spain. It is great we managed to get the whole podium. It is very emotional for me. I think we are making history. We had a great support of fans on the track and it made this event spectacular.

Miguel Ángel López	10:49:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
35 Km Race Walk Men	3	Spain	2:27:33

This result is very good for me and I take it very positive. At the beginning of the year, I got injured so under these circumstances,  coming here and getting on the podium is a great result for me. And I am also glad for our team. This year, for sure, I am going to do the 35km because of the qualification process. I have no more 20km in my schedule this year.  But, I do not know about the next year because who knows what will be happening with the race walking. So for Paris, I do not know if I go the 20km again.

Christopher Linke	10:43:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
35 Km Race Walk Men	2	Germany	2:27:05

I have many reasons to be happy today - I achieved a national record and I managed to beat the European champion Angel Lopez who beat me in Munich. It was very important to me. I have had two good races at 35km so far... Last year, at the nationals, it was very hot. The Munich European championships was very hot too... Today, we had perfect conditions so I knew I could walk fast. How fast - you never know, but I felt good from the beginning and in the end, it was a good race for me.  I have never walked more than 20k on this circuit in Podebrady so this was like it was my first time here. But yes, I like it, I like also the meeting.

Álvaro Martín	10:37:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
35 Km Race Walk Men	1	Spain	2:25:35

I wanted the race like this - my strategy was to go to the front from the start becasue I wanted to keep the pace from the beginning.  Obviously, I was tired in the last kilometres but I am happy for the time.  We have a tough hot weather in Spain so any conditions are perfect for me. The weather was good for us today - the morning start was incredible for this event. Now, the main focus is on the world championships in Budapest which is the most important. We have to keep the hard training and will try to to all the best to keep the shape also towards Olympic Games.

María Pérez	10:25:00

Disciplína	Umí.	Oddíl/stát	Výkon
35 Km Race Walk Women	1	Spain	2:37:15

It is a nice feeling to finish the race and the time is a big reward for this. The record time was definitely not my goal today -  my main goal was just to arrive to the finish line.  I am happy to do my best and I am glad to see the race walk can be attractive and can attract such great crowds like in Podebrady. I had difficult seasons behind me and I focused on this competition very seriously. We worked on the technique and I wanted to show that I am really well prepared. The technique was still not the best but I am working on it. It will be even better. I did not think of any time or any special target before the start, I just wanted to finish the best I could. In the last lap, it was going well. We had a great support on the course - I liked it very much.  Of course, I am feeling tired now but I will take a little rest and will cheer for the Spanish team.  Thanks to Podebrady for having such race walking event. As a team, we are doing very well and I am glad I can be a part of it.