World Athletics Championships: Spanish Race Walker Martin Wins Opening Gold

World Athletics Championships: Spanish race walker Martin wins opening gold (Image Source: IANS)

World Athletics Championships: Spain's Alvaro Martin claimed the first gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships by winning the men's 20km race walk here on Saturday.

This was the only final in the morning session on the first day and the start was delayed because of inclement weather.

However, Martin did not allow the delay to distract him as he came up with a tactical race.

The 29-year-old pushed himself forward with 5km to go, winning his first gold in a major event with this season's world-leading result of 1:17:32, reports Xinhua.

"I had an amazing race today, I did not expect to finish this fast, it is amazing. I cannot express all my feelings right now, it feels like a dream," said Martin, as all of the top eight finalists improved their personal bests in the race.

Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden finished second in 1:17:39, followed by Brazil's Caio Bonfim in 1:17:47.

Martin had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and said missing out on the bronze medal then had motivated him to work harder.

"The next goal is gold at the Olympic Games, but the only thing I want to do now is to cry out of happiness. I am going to enjoy this moment," he said.

The race at the Heroes' Square in Budapest's city centre was delayed for two hours due to a thunderstorm, and the 50 athletes started the race in heavy rain.

Japan's Olympic silver medalist Koki Ikeda led for a long time but faded in the final stages. The 25-year-old had to settle for a 15th-place finish in 1:19:44.

Ikeda's compatriot Toshikazu Yamanishi, who won the event at the previous two World Championships, finished 24th in 1:21:39.

China's Zhang Jun, who had led this year's world list with 1:17:38, finished 29th in 1:23:13. The National Games champion admitted that he had been affected by the cold weather and the delayed start to the race.