Loughnane ready for campaign opener

THE OFF-SEASON has been tough for some of the world’s leading race walking women – many of whom are already eyeing the final event of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Beijing next September when a $30,000 cheque will await the winner.

Ireland’s world silver medallist Olive Loughnane, however, has not thought about returning to the course where she turned in an astonishing performance in the 2008 Olympic Games.

She has the European championships in Barcelona next summer as her primary target and they will be foremost on her mind on Saturday when she opens her 2010 campaign in Rio Maior, Portugal.

She awaits confirmation of the field for the event with anticipation for there has been a fair share of drama during the off season.

No matter what happens there will be a new champion crowned in Beijing as Kjersti Platzer won’t be defending her title after the Norwegian champion retired at the world championships last August.

And Claudia Stef, fourth last year, is expecting a baby while Susana Feitor, who was sixth last year and won in 2008, has broken her arm.

Feitor, who tripped over a piece of wood and broke her arm in the fall, is expected to make her seasonal debut before the home crowd on Saturday.

The former world championship bronze medallist celebrated her 35th birthday at the end of January with her arm in a sling and has been playing catch-up since then. She was not too despondent over the mishap pointing out that the Rio Maior Challenge Race would be the ideal place to launch her 2010 campaign.

“I’ve always done the same races each year – and as I get older, I can only really race properly maybe four or five times a year – so I have to choose carefully,” she said.

“But there may be a decision to be made between the La Coruna Challenge and the World Walking Cup in Mexico. One comes too early or the other one comes too soon afterwards depending on how you see it.”

If she lines up on Saturday then fans can expect an intriguing battle between herself and her compatriots, Vera Santos and Ines Henriques, who finished seventh and eighth last year while Ana Cabecinha, who missed all of last year through injury, is also back and bidding for one of the three places on the team for the European championships.

Whoever makes that team of three will definitely enter Olive Loughnane’s territory because Barcelona is where her heart is right now.

Last year Loughnane had the season of her life and that was going to be difficult after the drama in Beijing the previous year when, finishing seventh in the women’s 20k walk, she was one of several athletes inside the Olympic record.

Co-incidentally, Ana Cabecinha was the leading Portuguese competitor in eighth place with Vera Santos 10th.

And she had them all behind her again when she claimed her silver medal at the world championships in Berlin last year.

Her off-season, however, did not go without incident either. She missed the national indoor championships in Belfast with a hip injury.

“Fortunately it was only a minor injury,” she said. “I could still train but I just could not walk fast and the shorter race in the nationals was always going to be quick.”

After that she went to Flagstaff for a month’s altitude training with Team Platzer – Stephan Platzer who is husband of Kjersti Platzer is advising her on her training programme.

“I am looking forward to Saturday,” she said. “I’m in good shape but you never know with your first race. I just wanted to be stronger and to get stronger and I have done that.

“I have no idea who the opposition will be but I know that, after what I did in the world championships last year, I can hold my own in any company.

“I competed in Rio Maior last year and finished sixth after spending the previous night on a drip. I got sick about 6pm the previous evening. It was just one of those freak things.”

While others with their sights on the big money prizes are preparing for next month’s IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuahua she won’t be making the trip to Mexico.

“I am planning to race three races – one 10k and two 20k races – before the European championships and that’s it,” she said. “The three races are all in the same series but I would consider it too risky going to Mexico and competing at altitude eight weeks before my biggest race of the year.

“I sat down and discussed the mater with the Irish Sports Council and they are fully behind me.

“I want to build again on last year when I was really consolidating the year before – technically I got better – once you win a medal you want to continue to do well.”

Colin Griffin will compete over 20k in Portugal at the weekend although he will revert to 50k for the world cup in Mexico next month.

Robert Heffernan, who broke the Irish record for 50k in Lugano last month, will step back down to 20k when he competes in Sesto, Italy, on May 1.

He will compete over 20k in the European championships in Barcelona at the end of July and coach, Ray Flynn, feels that he will benefit from his experience in Lugano.