Kimberly Garcia Leon of Peru pours water over her shoulder during the women's 20km race walk at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States, July 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Kimberly Garcia Leon from Peru surprised everyone by winning the women's 20km race walk title at Oregon22, while Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi successfully defended his title in the men's 20km race walk event.
EUGENE, United States, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Kimberly Garcia Leon dominated the women's 20km race walk event to win Peru's first-ever World Athletics Championships gold medal as the 2022 worlds kicked off in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.
The in-form Peruvian speeded up to lead the race after just two kilometers, and only China's 2012 Olympic champion Qieyang Shijie managed to keep with her pace. The duo remained together to lead for another 13 kilometers before Garcia Leon kicked away again and kept extending her advantage until breaking the tap in one hour, 26 minutes and 58 seconds.
"I am very happy and proud of myself. It's not easy but I am a fighter. I stayed focused on my goal to achieve a medal. I thought of that during the entire race and things worked out. At the 15km mark, my coach instructed me to up the pace. I told myself it would be now or never," said the 28-year-old, who smashed her own national record of 1:28:38 set earlier this year.
"I have dreamed of this medal since I was little. I want to dedicate it to all Peruvians. They will be very proud. This is the first medal for us at the World Championships, and I hope it won't be the last one," she added.
Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo, who remained some 20 seconds behind the leading duo for most of the opening 15km, reeled in Qieyang slowly and then passed her before the 18km mark. She also managed to break the national record with a clocking of 1:27:31 to notch the silver medal.
Gold medalist Kimberly Garcia Leon (C) of Peru celebrates with silver medalist Katarzyna Zdzieblo (L) of Poland and bronze medalist Qieyang Shijie of China after the women's 20km race walk event at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States, July 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
And the 31-year-old Qieyang finished third in 1:27:56. It is the second World Championships bronze medal for her as she also finished third in Daegu in 2011 and took a silver in Doha in 2019.
Defending champion Liu Hong of China failed to win her fifth title as she finished fifth behind Australia's Commonwealth champion Jemima Montag.
Also as a defending champion, Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi successfully retained the title in the men's 20km race walk event. Although his previous three major attempts to pull away for a sole lead came to nothing, the 26-year-old outraced his teammate Koki Ikeda in the storming final kilometer lap, wrapping up the victory in 1:19:07.
Gold medalist Yamanishi Toshikazu (R) of Japan celebrates with his compatriot silver medalist Ikeda Koki after the men's 20km race walk event at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States, July 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
"Today was my day. I am happy to be the first Japanese to repeat the world title in the race walk. I did not think much about the differences between Doha and Eugene. Doha was hotter and more humid. Today, the humidity was fine," said Yamanishi, who has become only the third man in the World Championships history to defend the 20km race walk title successfully.
"I am very gratified. It took tremendous skill and I was happy to be strong enough," he said.
Ikeda lagged seven seconds behind Yamanishi to finish second. And Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom bagged a back-to-back bronze medal in 1:19:18.
The Dominican Republic rallied to pass the United States in the home stretch to win the see-saw 4X400 mixed relay final with a world-leading result of three minutes and 9.82 seconds. The Netherlands also managed to pass Team USA in front of the finish to win the silver with a new national record of 3:09.90.
The United States had to settle for a bronze medal in 3:10.16. But it was good enough for their second-leg sprinter Allyson Felix to make history by winning a record 19th World Championships medal. ■
