Career
Later that year he placed third behind Mexico"s Daniel Bautista and Yakovlev in the IAAF Race Walking Cup. His time of 1:20:05 would have been his personal best and well under the previous world record of Reima Salonen, but the measurement of the course was questionable. Track & Field News ranked him fourth in the world at 20 km that year, behind Bautista, Mexico"s Domingo Colín and Yakovlev.