Athletics-Peru's Garcia Leon wins first gold of worlds in 20km race walk

Peruvian Kimberly Garcia Leon won the first gold medal of the World Championships on Friday in the 20 kilometres race walk in a time of 1:26:58, with Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo claiming silver and China's Qieyang Shijie taking bronze.

Qieyang and Garcia Leon shared a 20-second lead over the rest of the pack at the halfway mark and battled shoulder-to-shoulder through the next five kilometres under sunny, hot conditions. But with three kilometres left to go, 28-year-old Garcia Leon pulled away from the 2012 Olympic champion, who took silver three years ago, and broke the tape before embracing a member of her team.

Four-time champion Liu Hong, who led a Chinese podium sweep three years ago in Doha and collected bronze in the 2020 Olympics last year, came up short, finishing fifth in 1:29:00.