Athletics: Fine walk by Barrett in World Cup event

By Terry Maddaford

Craig Barrett walked the bitter memories of last year's Commonwealth Games disaster out of his system with a record-breaking effort in a World Cup 50km race in Mezidon-Canon, France, yesterday.

Barrett finished 13th in the 167-strong field - beaten only by Europe's best and an American two places ahead of him.

Behind Barrett, who took exactly three minutes from his previous best, the New Zealand record he set in Napier in November 1996, were the strong Mexican and Chinese contingents. The second Commonwealth walker finished 46th.

"Before I started we knew everything was on track," said Barrett while celebrating after the race. "The way things turned out it showed I had learned from the experience in Kuala Lumpur."

Although aiming for a top-eight finish, Barrett was happy with his placing and his 3h 48m 14s time. He was 45th at 10km and 18th at 40km. He finished just 13s behind the 10th placegetter.

He was well under the four-hour qualifying target for this year's world championships in Seville. He needs to better that target again to ensure Olympic selection.

New Zealander Anne Judkins had a disappointing return to international competition. She received three warnings in the women's 20km race and was disqualified, the only walker in the field hauled off the course.