The Irish race-walking team were in action at the IAAF Walking Challenge in Slovakia this weekend. There was great news for Alex Wright as his excellent 6th place finish in the 50K ensured his Olympic qualification in that event, to add to the 20K standard he has had in the bag since last year. His time of 3 hours 48 minutes 32 seconds was a 3 minute personal best and well inside the Rio qualifying time.
Alex said: “I’m so happy to have done this early in the year. It was really tough over the last 5K but I dug deep and I will now prepare for the World Cup in Rome in May where I will race 20K.”
Later on there was also a qualification standard for Alex’s coach Rob Heffernan as he clocked 1:22:52 for the 20K. Rob is now also qualified in both 20K and 50K events.