Spain’s Maria Perez cemented her status as the world’s leading race walker with a comfortable gold in the women’s 35km race walk at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
The defending champion, who won gold in the mixed marathon race walk relay at the Paris Olympics last August, made her break at about the two-thirds mark from a leading group of five.
And in contrast to the men’s race, in which the race lead chopped and changed in its latter stages, from there it proved simply a time trial for the 29-year-old.
It may have lacked the drama of the men’s event as Perez crossed the line in 2:39:01, more than three minutes quicker than Italian Antonella Palmisano in second place, but it only added to Perez’s ever-burgeoning list of titles.
She appeared to make light work of horribly humid conditions following a 7:30am local start, moved earlier by organisers because of the anticipated heat.
Perez has shown already this season that she is undeterred by any obstacle. She clocked a world-leading 2:38:59 in winning the European Race Walking Team Championships despite stopping for a mid-race comfort break.
This time she was just two seconds slower, despite conditions being far from ideal for race walking and she still had the energy to leap over the line – Spanish flag held aloft and mouth wide open – in celebration before lying prostrate on the track.
She met Palmisano with a warm embrace as she crossed the line while the bronze went to Paula Milena Torres for Ecuador.
After her latest global gold, Perez said: “I wanted to win a medal in two races here so I am happy. I wanted to go for the world record but the weather did not help. I want to thank all the Japanese. They learned and said my name on the last lap. Although I am so far away from home, it felt like home.”
For Palmisano, the Olympic champion for the 20km race walk in Tokyo four years earlier, it was a successful return to Japan at the age of 34. It was a third world medal and her best yet following bronze in London in 2017 and in Budapest two years ago.
Torres had set the early pace, breaking clear of the field early on although spent too many early kilometres looking at her watch checking her time splits.
Along with Kimberly Garcia Leon of Peru and China’s Li Peng, Torres formed a long-time leading group of five athletes before Perez made her solo break for gold long from home from which she never looked back.
At points, Torres had looked the likeliest to drop out of that leading quintet, twice briefly facing a small gap but each time she clawed her way back to ensure a podium finish.
Li ended up in fourth with a personal best of 2:43:29 while Garcia Leon, who had won the race walk double at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, faded badly to finish 10th.
After a brief respite to celebrate gold, Perez will now turn her attentions to the 20km and has a week in which to recover. She won double gold in Budapest two years ago but she is only 14th fastest in the world this year for the shorter distance.
Matt Majendie for World Athletics
AloJapan.com