8 May

Race walkers Jo Jackson and Daniel King are amongst those representing Great Britain this weekend for the 23rd IAAF Race Walking World Cup, in Cheboksary, Russia.

King (Colchester Harriers AC) recently produced the fastest 20k by a British athlete for six years. His 1:26:14 performance at Lugano Grand Prix di Marcia in March put him straight to the top of the 20k Power of Ten UK rankings and alongside his early 50k form helped his selection for this competition.

Jackson (Redcar Race Walking Club), an ex endurance runner who has recently become the first competitive championship performer for nearly ten years, will hope for a performance like that of hers at the Australian 20kW Championships earlier this year where she set a UK record. The northerner spent time training with the Australian team during the winter, which helped her produce a PB of1:31:40 in February.

Jackson continued the training partnership this month, spending a week with the Australian team when they trained at Eton and Brunel.

She said: “The support and facilities at both centres are great, for example today I have been doing tests to measure my muscle usage. I know the Australian team well now and it’s great walking in a group again.”

Jackson is currently covering 100km per week and will raise that to 160km during the next couple of years, she said: “If I make it to this year’s Olympics it will be a great experience but 2012 is my main focus.

“I’m in great shape, I did my best 2km rep on the track the other day which was brilliant.

“I’m not too sure where I’ll place but am definitely looking to make the top 20, if I get anywhere near to my current PB I’ll be happy.”

Norwich Union GB team for this weekend:

Men’s 50km

Daniel King

Dominic King

Women’s 20km

Jo Jackson

Junior men’s 10km

Ben Wears

For results and reports, please visit the IAAF website