Olympic 50 km walking champion Alex Schwazer also headlined the 41st edition of the Italian Indoor Championships at the modern Banca Marche Palas facility by setting the world seasonal best over the rarely-contested 5 km distance with 18:46.49, the fourth fastest time ever indoors in history in Italy. The previous world seasonal best was held by Frenchman Yohan Diniz who clocked 18:47.57. It was a good speed test for the Italian walking star who will make his seasonal debut over the 50 km distance in Signa at the Italian 50 km Race Walking Championships next week.

“I have trained very well at 2200 metres altitude in Pico del Teide near Tenerife,” Schwazer said. “Today I pushed the pace from the beginning to test my shape.”

Schwazer’s solid form is shown by his recent Italian all-time best over the 35 km distance of 2:26:16 set in Montalto di Castro at the end of January. The Italian star is back after dropping out at the World Championships in Berlin and is ready to grab the headlines in Chihuahua and Barcelona later in the year.

via iaaf.org – Donato bounces back with world-leading 17.39m leap in Ancona.