Ecuador's Paula Torres and Peru's Kimberly Garcia will face off for the seventh time in 12 months at the Dudinska 50 race walking event in Dudince, Slovakia, on March 7, 2026. Torres holds a 5-1 edge in their recent encounters, having overtaken Garcia's prior dominance. The meet introduces new half marathon and marathon distances as official senior events.
The Dudinska 50, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold meeting, takes place in Dudince, Slovakia, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. This event revives the intense competition between Paula Torres of Ecuador and Kimberly Garcia of Peru, who have clashed six times since March 2025, with Torres securing victories in five.
Prior to 2025, Garcia, the double world champion from 2022, dominated the field. However, Torres turned the tide with a win over 35km at last year's Dudince event. She followed with triumphs over 20km in Rio Maior and Warsaw, though Garcia responded with a strong performance in La Coruna, where Torres finished 19th after fading from contention.
At the World Championships in Tokyo, Torres placed fourth in the 20km with a national record of 1:26:18, just ahead of Garcia's fifth-place 1:26:22, also a national record. One week later, Torres earned bronze in the 35km event in 2:42:44, while Garcia placed 10th in 2:50:37.
Shifting to the new official distances of half marathon and marathon, both athletes have tested the half. Garcia timed 1:35:10 in Lima in November 2025, and Torres recorded 1:42:50 in Ecuador last month. World Athletics has set 1:30:30 or better as eligible for world record ratification, with the current fastest being Jiang Yunyan's 1:31:39 in Taicang earlier this year.
In the women's half marathon, competitors include Portugal's Vitória Oliveira, with a 20km personal best of 1:32:22 from La Coruna last year, and Ecuador's Johana Ordonez, who recently ran 3:38:13 in the marathon. Puerto Rico's Rachelle De Orbeta holds her national 20km record at 1:31:09, and Czechia's Ema Klimentova has a half marathon best of 1:38:31 from Dublin in November.
The women's marathon features Mexico's Sofía Ramos Rodríguez, the 2021 world U20 champion over 10,000m, who attempted the distance last month but did not finish. She faces France's Marine Rottier (personal best 3:44:42) and Elvina Carre (3:45:55), along with Spain's Laura Martinez (3:45:30 from the Spanish Championships last month).
On the men's side, Germany's Christopher Linke enters as the favorite in the marathon, making his debut at the distance. The 37-year-old, who holds German records at 20km and 35km and took silver over 35km at the 2022 European Championships, will compete against compatriots Jonathan Hilbert, Johannes Frenzl, Abu El Wafa Jassam, and Karl Junghannß, the latter with a race walk marathon time of 3:04:51 from October.
France's Matteo Duc, with 3:10:12 from November, and Turkey's Hayrettin Yildiz, a 2022 world U20 bronze medallist, are also in the field. Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom, a four-time world medallist, opts for the half marathon after a 3:04:50 full marathon season opener and a 1:28:52 half in Mexico last month. Brazil's Max Batista Goncalves Dos Santos brings a 20km best of 1:20:24, while Portugal's 50-year-old Joao Vieira, the 2019 world silver medallist, continues with a 20km personal best of 1:20:09 from 2006.
