Despite not being staged on the fast track, which is said to be 2% faster than Tokyo’s, the first day of Athletics saw some fast times in the two race walking events, with several Area, national, and personal records being set.
One can only imagine what will happen once the action takes to the track tomorrow, with the women’s 100m and men’s 1500m races taking place in the morning session.
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Men’s Race Walk marked the beginning of Athletics
Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado won the first gold medal for the Athletics discipline at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after a calculated sprint with about 1 km to go. This was the first Olympic medal for him in his career, the first for his country as well at the Games, and the fourth-ever gold medal for Ecuador in the Olympic Games history.
In a different version, in the women’s race, China’s Jiayu Yang decided to go out hard from the early stages of the race and led anyone who thought they could catch her do so. No one did, as she went ahead to win gold in a seasonal best time of 1:25:54.
Pintado remained patient through the first stages of the men’s race, only appearing in the lead after around 9 kilometres but not featuring prominently at the front. It was not until they came towards the last lap of the 1km loop that he suddenly took to the front, increased the paced and continued to stretch the gap at the front. He was a clear winner with 500m and proceeded to cross the finish line in 1:18:55, just nine seconds shy of the Olympic record. Brazil’s Caio Bonfim, who had done most of the front walking and was responsible for pushing the pace the entire race, finished second in 1:19:09. World Champion Alvaro Martin finished third in 1:19:11.
A storm had pushed forward the start of the men’s 20 km Race walking event by 30 minutes. When it all started, Brazil’s Caio Bonfim had taken to the front and crossed the first kilometre in 4:00, with a huge pack following him some seconds behind. But that was seemingly just to set a fast pace, as he would soon get swallowed by the huge pack that remained together past the halfway point.
The leading pack began to stretch soon after they passed the 15K mark in 1:00:09. A pack of about ten was soon reduced into a single file with about 3 km to go. Bonfim was at the front again at 17K as three runners remained at the front before Pintado finally made a decisive move and went for the gold medal.
Women’s Race Walk
In the women’s race, while she was there at the front from the start, China’s Jiayu Yang made a decisive move after the first 5 km and was already six seconds ahead of the field as she crossed the 6 km point in 25:48. She would continue to stretch the gap, crossing the 15 km point some 30 seconds ahead of Spain’s Maria Perez.
Perez then started closing in on Yang, reducing the gap between 15 and 16 km by ten seconds, but then the margin remained the same at 17 km. The gap was reduced again by 5 seconds with 2km to go, providing an exciting conclusion to the race. Would Perez find enough distance to close the gap?
No. 28-year-old Yang had already built a good safety gap to comfortably begin smiling and go out for the win with a kilometre to go. She even stretched the lead again before crossing the finish line some 25 seconds ahead of her next competitor.
Perez came in second, also in a seasonal best time of 1:26:19, ahead of Australia’s Jemima Montag, who registered a new Area Record of 1:26:25.
Exciting days now remain for the Athletics in Paris!