The Balkan Race Walking Championships is an annual racewalking competition between athletes from member nations of Balkan Athletics. The championships features six individual races: senior men's and women's 20 kilometres race walks, men's and women's under-20 10 kilometres race walks, an under-18 boys' 10 km walk, and an under-18 girls' 5 kilometres race walk.[1] Each individual race also has a national team component with points awarded based on finishing time, which are then totalled to form an overall team score for the championships.[2]

Balkan racewalking competitions originated in the main Balkan Athletics Championships. A men's 20 km walk was first held in 1961 and a women's 10 km walk was introduced in 1988 (later increased to a 20 km race in 2001).[3] One-off indoor walks were also held at the Balkan Indoor Athletics Championships in 1994.[4] The Balkan championships for racewalking were first held separately from the main championships in 2000,[3] though Balkan Athletics starting their official numbering of a discrete Balkan Race Walking Championships from 2002 onwards.[5]

List of winners (20 km)

Edition Year Venue Country Date Senior men's winner Time Senior women's winner Time Team winner
1st 2002 Vlasotince Yugoslavia  Silviu Casandra (ROM) 1:22:06  Nevena Mineva-Dimitrova (BUL) 1:32:16 —
2nd 2003 Ruse Bulgaria  Predrag Filipović (SCG) 1:22:40  Veronica Budileanu (ROM) 1:35:12 —
3rd 2004 Reșița Romania  Costică Bălan (ROM) 1:21:51  Athina Papayianni (GRE) 1:28:58 —
4th 2005 Preveza Greece  Silviu Casandra (ROM) 1:25:48  Evangelia Xinou (GRE) 1:35:35 —
5th 2006 Istanbul Turkey  Predrag Filipović (SCG) 1:22:31  Ana Maria Groza (ROM) 1:30:46 —
6th 2007 Galați Romania  Recep Çelik (TUR) 1:23:10  Alina Olaru (ROM) 1:33:14 —
7th 2008 Bucharest Romania 12 April[6]  Predrag Filipović (SRB) 1:26:59  Veronica Budileanu (ROM) 1:34:37 —
8th 2009 Bucharest Romania  Dragoș Neacșu (ROM) 1:23:21.20  Ana Maria Groza (ROM) 1:29:56.30 —
9th 2010 Bucharest Romania  Silviu Casandra (ROM) 1:23:29.30  Ana Veronica Rodean (ROM) 1:37.26 —
10th 2011 Bucharest Romania  Recep Çelik (TUR) 1:22:31  Claudia Ștef (ROM) 1:33:38 —
11th 2012 Bucharest Romania  Predrag Filipović (SRB) 1:28:50  Ana Veronica Rodean (ROM) 1:35:17 —
12th 2013 Ayvalık Turkey  Vladimir Savanović (SRB) 1:28:42  Adriana Georgiana Enache (ROM) 1:39:17  Turkey
13th 2014 Balchik Bulgaria  Vladimir Savanović (SRB) 1:26.31  Despina Zapounidou (GRE) 1:34.56  Romania
14th 2015 Ayvalık Turkey  Şahin Şenoduncu (TUR) 1:27:30  Andreea Arsine (ROM) 1:39:36  Turkey
15th 2016 Florina Greece  Adrian Dragomir (ROM) 1:31:32  Panayiota Tsinopoulou (GRE) 1:38:29  Turkey
16th 2017 Florina Greece  Alexandros Papamichail (GRE) 1:26:40  Antigoni Drisbioti (GRE) 1:34:00  Romania
17th 2018 Zrenjanin Serbia  Dmytro Sobchuk (UKR) 1:26:27  Panayiota Tsinopoulou (GRE) 1:39:01  Turkey
18th 2019 Alexandroupoli Greece  Alexandros Papamichail (GRE) 1:24:40  Panayiota Tsinopoulou (GRE) 1:34:55  Greece
19th 2020 Ivano-Frankivsk Ukraine 14 March[7]  Eduard Zabuzhenko (UKR) 1:20:46  Mariia Sakharuk (UKR) 1:30:22  Greece
20th 2021 Antalya Turkey 27 March[8]  Sahin Senoduncu (TUR) 1:24:20  Ayşe Tekdal (TUR) 1:30:12  Turkey
21st 2022 Athens Greece 3 April[9]  Narcis Mihăilă (ROU) 1:30:24  Ayşe Tekdal (TUR) 1:38:01  Turkey
22nd 2023 Antalya Turkey 9 April[10]  Mazlum Demir (TUR) 1:25:38  Antigoni Drisbioti (GRE) 1:29:56  Greece

References

  1. ^ 18th BALKAN RACE WALKING CHAMPIONSHIPS Alexandroupolis/GREECE 20 April 2019. Balkan Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  2. ^ 18th BALKAN RACE WALKING CHAMPIONSHIPS Alexandroupolis/GREECE 20 April 2019 Team Results. Balkan Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  3. ^ a b Balkan Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  4. ^ Balkan Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  5. ^ Results Archived 2022-10-30 at the Wayback Machine. Balkan Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  6. ^ 2008 Balkan Race Walking Championships. European Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  7. ^ 2020 Balkan Race Walking Championships. Balkan Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  8. ^ "27/03/2021 Antalya (TUR): Balkan Championships - Great results of Meryem Bekmez". marciadalmondo.com. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  9. ^ "21st Balkan Race Walking Championships 2022 Athens, GRE" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 3 April 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Balkan Race Walking Championships". worldathletics.org. 9 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
Winners list

External links

Championships organised by Balkan Athletics
Balkan sports championships
International athletics competitions
Categories