Mexican racewalker Palma heads for Australia to train with the best

Racewalker Ever Palma, who competed for Mexico at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics , will travel to Australia on Jan. 1 to train with the best in the world.

“For about 40 days, I’ll be with several of the top-ranked (racers) like Colombia’s Eider Arevalo, a world champion, Australia’s Jared Tallent, a four-time Olympic medalist, and the top-level Japanese team, among others,” the 26-year-old athlete told EFE.

Palma - with a personal best time in the 20 km of 1:19.38, achieved a few months before the 2016 Olympics - said he is at a moment of maturity as an athlete and ready to try to improve his time and be a contender at Pan American Games and the world championships.

“The idea is to work with the best, raise my sports form and try to compete well on Feb. 10 at the Adelaide Grand Prix, the first competition on the world circuit,” he said.

This year, Palma struggled with an injury that forced him to interrupt his training, so he stayed out of the Central American and Caribbean Games, but he is recovered and said he is now able to secure for himself a place on the Mexican teams for the Pan-Am Games and the world championships.

Coach Alberto Cruz’s plan calls for Palma to reach peak form by next summer.

In the men’s 20 km race walk, Mexico has won two Olympic gold medals, three silvers and one bronze, but it has not achieved a great world result since Eder Sanchez’s third-place finish at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.