Kaniskina led compatriot Anisya Kirdyapkina by 10 seconds at
the halfway mark and continued to pull away from the field to win in a time of
one hour, 27 minutes and 44 seconds.
Kirdyapkina, fastest woman in the world this year, was a
distant second, one minute and 11 seconds behind. Vera Sokolova was third.
"It feels fantastic to have won the race walk here in
Barcelona. I'm also very happy for the girls," said Kaniskina, who broke
down in tears after crossing the line.
"We trained together very hard and now all climbed the
podium."
Ineta Radevica of Latvia beat Naide Gomes of Portugal in a
tiebreaker to win the women's long jump on Wednesday.
Radevica and Gomes, the world indoor champion, both leaped
6.92 meters with a strong tail wind but the Latvian won her first major gold
because of a longer second jump.
Olga Kucherenko jumped 6.84 to take bronze and Russia's
leading sixth medal in Barcelona.
Former Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft finished
11th of 12 competitors with a best leap of 6.33.
Spanish hopeful Maria Vasco, Olympic bronze medallist in
2000, was fifth at 10 km but later pulled up limping and clutching her right
leg.
Back in the Olympic stadium, there was also disappointment
for top-ranked European sprinter Alena Neumiarzhytskaya, who went out of the
women's 100 meters in the first round after only managing fifth place in her
heat in 11.63.
Her Belarus team mate, 2004 Olympic champion, Yuliya
Nesterenko soon followed her out of the competition finishing seventh in her
heat in 11.58.
France's European record holder Christine Arron, now 36,
took third in that race to go through to Thursday's semi-finals behind fastest
qualifier Verena Sailer of Germany, who won in 11.27.
Norway's European junior silver medallist Folake Akinyemi's
campaign ended early when the 20-year-old pulled up in her heat and fell to the
blue track in distress. She was carried off on a stretcher.
Ukraine's Oleksiy Kasyanov got his decathlon title bid off
to a flying start and led the competition by 66 points after three events.
Kasyanov, one of the favorites to succeed injured Czech
world record holder Roman Sebrle as European champion, started with a season's
best in the 100 meters of 10.60 for 952 points and the early lead.
He then produced the best long jump in the 16-man field of
7.88 meters but faltered slightly in the morning's last event, with a shot put
of 14.27, almost 1.5 meters down on his personal best.
Lithuania's Darius Draudvila is second overall after three
events on 2661 points and Estonia's European indoor heptathlon champion Mikk
Pahapill third another 78 behind.
The two-day 10-event discipline continues on Wednesday with
the high jump and 400 meters.
Spain's world steeplechase champion Marta Dominguez said she
was feeling below-par after finishing fourth in her heat to qualify for the
final.
Fervently cheered by children wearing coloured t-shirts,
which gave the near-empty arena on the Montjuic hill some much-needed
atmosphere, Dominguez pulled away off the last barrier to take the final
qualifying spot after rival Sophie Duarte stumbled.
"I didn't have to force the pace because I was lucky
that at the end the French girl stumbled but I hope to recuperate in time for
Friday," said Dominguez, wearing pink running shoes to match her trademark
headband.
Former world record holder Svetlana Feofanova needed one
jump to qualify for Friday's women's pole vault final clearing 4.40.
The 30-year-old, European champion in 2002, is a favorite
for the title in the absence of Olympic gold medallist and world record holder
Yelena Isinbayeva, who is skipping the outdoor season, and world champion Anna
Rogowska of Poland.
David Greene, the clear favorite for the men's 400 hurdles,
was untroubled in his heat and had enough time to look behind him to see where
second-placed Michael Bultheel of Germany was in the home straight before
winning in 50.11.
Greene is the only European to go below 49 seconds this
season.
But defending champion Periklis Iakovakis of Greece showed
he could be coming into form with a season's best of 49.49 to finish second in
his heat behind Briton Rhys Williams.
Bolt to face Gay and Powell in Stockholm
Meantime, triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt and top sprint
rivals Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell will meet for the first time this year in a
100 meters showdown at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting next week.
The clash on Aug. 6 will be the first including Jamaican
Bolt, American Gay and Bolt's compatriot Powell since they took gold, silver
and bronze at the 2009 Berlin world championships, meeting director Rajne
Soderberg told Reuters on Wednesday.
It will match the three fastest men of all-time with Bolt
the world record holder at 9.58 seconds, followed by Gay (9.69) and Powell
(9.72).
"The last time Usain ran here Asafa beat him just
before the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Soderberg said by telephone. "I
think it was the only (100 meters) race he has lost in his (professional) life
so he probably wants to come back for revenge.
Bolt has beaten Gay in both of their 100 meters races. He
holds an 8-1 edge over Powell, the loss coming in the 2008 Stockholm meeting.
Weeks later, Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 and
helped Jamaica eclipse the 4x100 record at Beijing. He went on to break both
sprint records at last year's world championships.
