The best of the best will gather in Taicang in China this weekend for the IAAF World Race Walking Cup - and Russia’s Aleksandr Ivanov has the chance once more to stamp his authority all over the sport.
In Moscow at last year’s World Championships, Ivanov produced the best performance of his career to take the 20km title in a time of 1:20:58 as he beat Chen Ding, China’s Olympic champion, by 11 seconds.
Their rivalry will resume on Sunday with their race being the climax of the competition which is being staged in China for the first time since 1995. On that last occasion, in Beijing, the hosts won all the gold medals but Europe’s strength in depth will mean that is unlikely to be repeated.
Ivanov's Moscow success arguably makes him the favourite but two Europeans will also pose a big threat to him.
Ukraine have the fastest men on the European rankings this year in the shape of Ivan Losev and Nazar Kovalenko whose one-two at the national championships in Alushta at the end of February set the standard for the rest to follow.
Losev won in 1:19:33, a national record, as he won by 13 seconds, and along with Matej Toth, of Slovakia, who has recorded 1:19:48, they are the only three Europeans to break the 1:20:00 barrier in 2014. Infact, only six men have achieved that across the globe, with Japan’s Yusuke Suzuki the fastest with 1:18:17.
Ivanov’s best is 1:20:44 when he won the national championships in Sochi in March, and as he showed in Moscow, it was so much about perseverance, tactics and having enough left for that final kilometre when a gold medal is at stake.
Chen has not competed this year but Ivanov’s success in Moscow will give him the psychological edge over the Chinese star in a race which will also feature the European man who won the 50km title at those World Championships.
What a year 2013 was for Robert Heffernan, who won Ireland’s first World Championship gold medal in 18 years when he triumphed in brilliant style.
His mind is also on the future here in Taicang, with just over 100 days to go until the start of the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.
There he will compete in the 50km race, where he will take some stopping you suspect, but his 1:20:57 from Lugano in March will still put him in the mix in this 20km event.
Second behind Heffernan in Moscow was Russia’s Mikhail Ryzhov and he will be one of the favourites for the 50km which is the first event of the Cup on Saturday morning.
In Moscow, Ryzhov showed his undoubted ability as he held off the strong challenge of Australia’s Jared Tallest, the double Olympic silver medallist who will be a big threat in this race.
It has been some year for Italy’s Eleonora Giorgi and can she now turn it into a podium place in the women’s 20km?
The top times of 2014 are from Lugano in March when Giorgi - in 1:27:29 - was beaten by just four seconds by China’s Hong Liu.
Tenth in Moscow and 14th at the Olympics Games in London, Giorgi’s gradual progression has been impressive and her time in Lugano broke her personal best by over two minutes.
No Italian has won gold at the World Race Walking Cup since Erica Alfridi in Turin in 2002 and Giorgi told the IAAF: “The Lugano performance makes me dream about the World Cup but I am aware that I have a lot of work to do because my discipline is highly competitive.”
TAICANG TIMETABLE
SATURDAY (all local times)
8 a.m. - Men’s 50km
3:30 p.m. - Men’s 10km
4:30 p.m. - Women’s 20km
SUNDAY
9 a.m. - Women’s 10km
10:10 a.m. - Men’s 20km