China win three individual and three team golds and two silvers but a Ukrainian fourth-placer gained the most attention

China won all gold medals available on day one on a tough course (27 metre difference between the shortest and highest point) and very warm conditions.

In the women’s 20km, Ma Zhenxia defeated world record-holder Yang Jiayu with surprising ease.

The 23 year-old Ma, is a former World Youth and Junior champion and has a 1:27:46 PB which came in last year’s Chinese Championships. However that time only got her sixth in their championships and so she did not represent them in the Olympics.

It was Yang J who made the running with a 4:12 first kilometre but a 4:33 second showed the harder second half of each lap.

At 3km, Yang was eight seconds clear but was caught at 4km and at 5km, the two Chinese went through 5km in 22:11 in the company of Kimberly Garcia Leon of Peru and the trio had a 11 second margin to the 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Yang Liujing.

The trio were still together at 10km in 44:57 and the margin behind had stretched to well over a  minute with now Mexican Alegna Gonzalez (46:04) heading a second pack of three  with Yang L and Japan’s Nanako Fuji.

By 15km (67:32), the two Chinese leaders accelerated up the hill and had got clear of Garcia (67:55).

At 17km, Ma (76:35) had herself broke free from her compatriot’s 76:53 while the Peruvian was an even more isolated third in 77:34, well clear of  the respective Olympic fifth and 13th placers Gonzalez and Fujii (78:47) who were still together.

Over the last 3km, the margin stretched further by well over a minute and Ma won in 1:30:22 from her tired and fading compatriot’s 1:31:54.

Though she held her form better than anyone the  winner’s 5km splits (22:11, 22:38, 22:35 and 22:50) show the effects of the heat and tough course, though note the runner-up’s last 5km was a relatively slow 24:22.

Garcia was equally tired over the closing stages but held on for third in 1:32:27 from Gonzalez’s 1:32:45 as the Mexican took half a minute off the two ahead in her in the last kilometre alone.

China who also had a seventh and tenth and were easy team winners with 10 points and Greece’s 30 and India’s 61.

The sole British competitor Bethan Davies excelled as her 18th place was the highest ever British position in the event.

Just 36th at 5km (25:25), she was up to 27th at 10km (50:54), 21st at 15km (1:16:27) before moving through further to her finish in 1:42:25 which put her comfortably in the top half of the 41 finishers while three were disqualified and a further five failed to finish.

China also went one-two in the under-20 women’s 10km with Jiang Yunyan (47:48) leading home a fast finishing Jiang Jinyan (48:03) and Finland’s Heta Veikkola (48:11).

Before the race competitors observed a ‘Moment for Ukraine’ with some athletes holding up Ukrainian flag as World Athletics President Sebastian Coe a bouquet of blue and gold flowers.

This must have inspired the sole Ukrainian participant of the weekend, Valeriya Sholomitska who was actually ahead at 5km in 24:10.

She had dropped off the pace at 8km but fought on well to finish fourth in 48:53, eight seconds up on Australia’s Olivia Sandery who led Australia to silver medals behind China as Spain finished third.

Sholomitska said: “I’m very happy to make it to this championships. The situation in my home country is very difficult and many people have died. We just want peace.”

The most dramatic race of the day though was the under-20 men’s 10km.

China’s Wang Hongren look destined for third with 100 metres to go but India’s Amit Khadri was hauled into the penalty zone as was Kenya’s world under-20 champion Heristone Wanyonyi and their one-minute penalty costs them medals.

Wang Hongren’s time was 44:06 and he was only around 30 metres ahead of the end from Italy’s Diego Giampaolo who caught Jiang Jinyan on the line with both timed at 44:14.

The Kenyan finished fourth in 45:18 though Khadri was disqualified.

China won the team gold from Italy and Spain.

Results
Under-20 men’s 10km walk
1 Wang Hongren CHN 44:06
2 Diego Giampaolo ITA 44:14
3 Zeng Yu CHN 44:14
4 Heristone Wanyonyi KEN 45:18
5 Mateo Romero Blanco COL 45:20
6 Pablo Pastor ESP 45:23
7 Oscar Martinez ESP 45:25
8 Nicola Lomuscio ITA 45:33
9 Pablo Rodríguez ESP 45:54
9 Sajan Irincheev FIN 45:54
11 Mazlum Demir TUR 46:11
12 Pietro Pio Notaristefano ITA 46:13
13 Adam Zajíček CZE 46:56
14 Andréas Papasteryíou GRE 47:22
15 Fraser Saunder AUS 47:38
16 Frederick Weigel GER 47:47
17 Tomáš Mencel SVK 48:10
18 Emanuel Apaza PER 48:18
19 Jaime Roliño Ccanto PER 48:34
20 Julian Andres COL 49:13
21 Marcus Wakim AUS 49:21
22 Raivo Liniņš LAT 49:46
23 Kamil Piecuch POL 50:03
24 Ignas Dumbliauskas LTU 50:15
25 Michal Duda SVK 50:24
26 Heron Miranda BRA 51:41
27 Nurzat Kunbolatuly KAZ 52:00
28 Hayrettin Yildiz TUR 52:28
29 Christiaan Bester RSA 55:43
30 Khalid Al Siyaby 1:00:31
31 Hamed Al Dughaishi 1:06:55
32 Mohammed Al Jabri 1:20:41

Women: 20km walk:
1 Ma Zhenxia CHN 1:30:22
2 Yang Jiayu CHN 1:31:54
3 Kimberley García PER 1:32:27
4 Alegna Gonzalez MEX 1:32:45
5 Nanako Fujii JPN 1:33:16
6 Antigóni Drisbióti GRE 1:34:54
7 Yang Liujing CHN 1:34:59
8 Saskia Feige GER 1:35:24
9 Valentina Trapletti ITA 1:36:44
10 Ma Li CHN 1:37:19
11 Kiriakí Filtisákou GRE 1:38:53
12 Lidia Sánchez-Puebla ESP 1:39:42
13 Hristína Papadopoúlou GRE 1:40:01
14 Ravina IND 1:40:02
15 Brigita Virbalytė-Dimšienė LTU 1:40:15
16 Antia Chamosa ESP 1:41:24
17 Clemence Beretta FRA 1:41:43
18 Bethan Davies GBR 1:42:25
19 Emily Ngii KEN 1:42:39
20 Kristina Morozova KAZ 1:42:45
21 Bhawna Jat IND 1:43:08
22 Emilia Lehmeyer GER 1:43:18
23 Paula Milena Torres ECU 1:43:46
24 Gabriela De Sousa Muniz BRA 1:44:18
25 Ólga Fiáska GRE 1:44:54
26 Munita Prajapati IND 1:45:03
27 Eliška Martínková CZE 1:45:26
28 Monika Vaiciukevičiūtė LTU 1:45:44
29 Eloise Terrec FRA 1:45:49
30 Mihaela Acatrinei ROU 1:46:11
31 Hana Burzalová SVK 1:46:51
32 Rachelle De Orbeta PUR 1:46:54
33 Souad Azzi ALG 1:47:08
34 Efstathía Kourkoutsáki GRE 1:47:44
35 Anna Zdziebło POL 1:47:54
36 Enni Nurmi FIN 1:49:06
37 Robyn Stevens USA 1:49:14
38 Regina Rykova KAZ 1:49:28
39 Austėja Kavaliauskaitė LTU 1:50:04
40 Katie Burnett USA 1:56:02
41 Marissa Swanepoel RSA 1:58:23

U20 women’s 10km walk:
1 Jiang Yunyan CHN 47:48
2 Jiang Jinyan CHN 48:03
3 Heta Veikkola FIN 48:11
4 Valeriya Sholomitska UKR 48:53
5 Olivia Sandery AUS 49:01
6 Meiduo Gangla CHN 49:40
7 Allanah Pitcher AUS 49:51
8 Eva Rico ESP 50:02
9 Yasmina Tokonbayeva KAZ 50:19
10 Vittoria Di Dato ITA 50:20
11 Elvina Carré FRA 50:26
12 Lucia Redondo ESP 50:41
13 Alanna Peart AUS 50:47
14 Mariana Rincón COL 51:05
15 Olivia Lundman CAN 51:13
16 Inês Mendes POR 51:29
17 Griselda Serret ESP 51:29
18 Magdalena Żelazna POL 51:51
19 Sofia Fiorini ITA 52:08
20 Lena Sonntag GER 52:28
21 María José Mendoza ECU 52:44
22 Reshma Patel IND 53:10
23 Ana Delahaie FRA 53:20
24 Sükran Ayaz TUR 53:40
25 Izabela Krzyżanowska POL 53:41
26 Janise Nell RSA 54:01
27 Heather Durrant USA 54:03
28 Gabrielly Cristina dos Santos BRA 54:21
29 Lilian Bittencourt BRA 54:33
30 Elif Nur Özbey TUR 55:48
31 Karin Devaldová SVK 56:34
32 Sorana Tutu ROU 56:42
33 Ellen Seisto FIN 57:33
34 Angelica Harris USA 57:37
35 Stanislava Hakulinová SVK 57:45