Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Leeds Beckett student Callum Wilkinson wins World Junior Championships
First-year Callum became the first British race walker for more than half a century to hold a global title after Ken Matthews took the 1964 Olympic 20km title at the Rome Olympic Games.
He clocked a world leading time of 40:41.62 having led from half-way.
Sports Event Management student Callum trains at the National Race Walking Centre based on our University's campus. He had just missed out on a medal in the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome in May, when finishing fourth but outperformed his rivals this time around.
The opening tempo was slow, with Turkey’s Salih Korkmaz taking the field through 1,000m in 4:17.16 and 2,000m in 8:40.38. Half a lap later, Germany’s Leo Kopp decided to take up the pace and he led through 3,000m in 12:54.57.
Within the space of one lap, Callum had taken pole position and stretched out the lead pack. Korkmaz was still near the front, so too was Noel Ali Chama of Mexico. But from 4,000m onwards, Wilkinson did not relinquish his lead.
After reaching halfway in 21:11.75, Callum moved up another gear and began to churn out sub-four-minute splits for the remaining 1,000m sections. A 3:58.47 kilometre saw the lead pack reduce to nine. Manuel Bermudez, the silver medallist in the junior race at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships Rome 2016, began to drift behind the leaders as the Spaniard struggled with a minor ankle injury.
At 7,000m, Ecuador’s Jonathan Amores and Ethiopia’s Yohanis Algaw were still doggedly sticking to Callum, but he was showing no signs of stress and covered the penultimate 1,000m section in 3:53.56 and just four men were left in contention.
As the pack went through the bell, Algaw was the first to drop off, leaving just Callum, Amores and Korkmaz in the hunt for medals. But those positions remained the same throughout the last lap as Callum stretched away to win in a national U20 record of 40:41.62 which also takes Wilkinson to second on the senior British all-time list for the distance.
Callum said: “Every lap of the track made me more and more confident. I felt really comfortable going into the last two kilometres. I didn’t even look behind during the last 200m.
“I knew before the race I could do it but you still have to go and deliver.
"The pace was very slow and I hadn’t intended to lead from the front but I thought I have to increase this pace as it so slow. My season has gone well. I walked well in Rome so I was confident coming into the race and now having experienced that elation I hope I can go on to many more victories.”
Wilkinson’s training partner who is also based at the National Race Walking Centre, Cameron Corbishley finished 24th in 43:06.91.