Håvard Haukenes had to retire after struggling around a mile and a half before Olympic competition.
Despite the race taking place in Sapporo in northern Japan, in the hope that temperatures weren’t as high as in Tokyo, 28 degrees and high humidity awaited the runners during the race.
– I haven’t had enough continuity with training in a new technique, and I need time to get my lower back in order and hoarding, but I keep hunting for them. Paris Olympics, Haukenes told Norwegian media after what turned out to be a disappointing performance for him. .
He says he was not affected by the heat at all. It wasn’t what had broken him.
– I opened at a closer drive speed to an almost calm pace in long distance driving. The legs and body worked extremely well with a heart rate of around 140-150. Everything worked perfectly up to about 31 kilometers. Then I had a sore lower back and had a hamstring problem in both legs, the 31-year-old said.
Breather
He did not succeed in the last championships. At the World Cup in Doa two years ago, he was sidelined.
– I breathed on the floor, but the pain became too intense. I was muscle devastated. If there is anything positive to take from this race, it’s that the technique worked really well until I started to limp.
Haukenes says he’s sad he didn’t hit his last five miles.
At the Paris Olympics, the distances will most likely be 20 and 35 kilometers in the race.
– I do not give up. It wasn’t the heat that was the problem. I was as well prepared as I could get, and the drink and ice cream plan worked as it should. But I haven’t been trained enough with the new technique. It may take one, two or three years before he sits down so that I don’t incur muscle problems, the Bergen man said.
Polish victory
After 30 kilometers, the Pole Dawid Tomala had advanced and taken a good lead. There were then 50 seconds left for Haukenes and the rest of the group behind. Tomala held the hatch to the end and was finally able to clap for the gold.
With one round to go, it looked like Spaniard Marc Tur and Germany’s Jonathan Hilbert would win silver and bronze. Hilbert, however, ran away after Tur stiffened and he won the money. Canadian Evan Dunfee came from the depths, brought Tur and took bronze with it. Dunfee won bronze at the World Cup in 2019 at the same distance.
World distance record holder Yohann Diniz of France struggled for much of the race, and after 25 kilometers he threw in the towel.
Finally, there were quite a few men in the race.
Haukenes took 7th place over the same distance at the Rio Olympics five years ago.
This year’s Olympics are the last with a 50-kilometer run. The exercise will be replaced by the Paris Olympics, where a similar exercise for women will also be included. The 50 kilometer run is the only exercise at the Olympics where there is also no exercise on the women’s side.
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