I feel
always very well in
Hildesheim in Germany.
This time I was very
nervous before the race
and I was building up
a lot of pressure on
my self. I wanted to
win and I wanted to
walk fast. I was absolutely
not sure if I would
win and I was not sure
how fast I could walk.
But what I definitely
knew was that on the
hilly course in Hildesheim
it would be very important
not to walk to fast
the first lap of 500m.
Last time I tried to
walk the 5km world best
in Hildesheim (2003)
we started to fast (1.54
at 500m) and I couldn't
walk fast enough the
last four laps. I ended
up with my personal
best in 20:08, just
3 seconds behind the
world best time of 20:05.
For many
years I have had the
dream to walk under
20 minutes. The organizers
of the Geher Cup
in Hildesheim announced
that this year would
be the last time the
race would take place.
Therefore I felt that
I just had to try for
the record and maybe
break 20 minutes :-)
I love to walk in Hildesheim,
because the course is
good for me and I have
never had better spectators
anywhere in the world.
We had
perfect conditions for
the race on Sunday afternoon:
18 degrees celsius,
sun and a little wind
that came from the perfect
direction. We had tailwind
up the hill :-)
This year
we finally managed not
to walk to fast the
first lap. I had 2:04
for the first lap, I
felt fine and I thought:
OK, Kjersti, now
you have to go!
I pushed the pace down
to 1:56 laps and then
I managed to keep my
laps between 1:57 and
1:59. I was happy for
every lap I managed
to walk under 2 minutes.
I just felt fantastic
and I stayed focused
through the whole race.
My only thought was
to push, push, push.
The last 4 laps (2km)
were really hard. I
still don't know how
I managed to walk the
last 100m uphill to
the finish line. But
the spectators were
fantastic, like always
in Hildesheim! They
carried me every lap
up the hill and they
pushed me to keep my
pace. When I crossed
the finish line I was
very happy. I was not
sure about my time,
but I just knew that
my last lap still was
fast and that I became
the first women ever
to break 20 minutes.
19:46 is just fantastic
and I am very proud.
I was very tired and
I needed assistance
after I finished the
race. My legs couldn't
carry me anymore. I
used two minutes just
to walk 50m to get to
my bag so I could change
to dry clothes. I had
headache for three hours
after the race and I
didn't sleep much during
the night. My body was
to tired and it was
working hard to recover.
THE MASTERS
RACE
During
our warm up there was
a masters race where
former world class walkers
like, Robert Korzeniowski,
Jordi Jopart and Ron
Weigel took part. It
looked like if they
had fun racing again
:-) They all still had
very good technique
and it was easy to see
that they all used to
be very good race walkers.
THE MENS
10km RACE
My brother
Erik Tysse has a nickname:
The Rocket.
In Hildesheim he proved
that he earns it. He
started like a rocket
and pushed the pace
from the beginning.
Yohan Diniz, European
Champion on 50km this
year, took over the
lead for a lap, but
then got problems when
Erik again took over
the lead. The only one
to follow Erik was the
big favorite Ilia Markov
from Russia. Earlier
in the week when Erik
heard that Ilia would
come to Hildesheim he
got even more motivation.
He told me that it was
time to finally finish
a race in front of Markov
and not just some seconds
behind! During the race
he really showed that
he wanted to win, and
to win he had to walk
fast. At 6 km Markov
started to struggle
and Erik pushed the
pace down to 1.50 for
one lap and he got a
5m lead on him. For
every lap the lead increased
and Erik was able to
keep steady laps on
1:52-1:53 all the way
through the rest of
the race. He won the
10km in 37:33, 48 seconds
ahead of Ilia Markov.
Stephan
thank you for being
such a good coach. I
am proud of you!
