20 kilometres Race Walk, Men1

The men’s 20 km race walk was the first athletics event contested at the Paris 2024 Olympics, although it started 30 minutes later than scheduled because of lightning in the vicinity of the race course. There was no clear favorite, but Spain’s Álvaro Martín – the 2023 World Champion at this distance and at 35 km –, Japan’s Koki Ikeda – Tokyo OG silver medalist and 2024 world leader with 1h16.51 (the 3rd performance of all-time, in February) –, and Sweden’s Perseus Karlström – the 2024 European Champion –, were considered likely medalists. Much of the early pacing was set by Brazil’s Caio Bonfim, another highly considered walker.

A large group of walkers were together through 15 km. Ikeda was the first to fall back as lap times dropped into the low 3:50’s. Then, a smaller group of four, including Brian Daniel Pintado (ECU), Bonfim, Martín, and Massimo Stano (ITA), the defending gold medalist, went ahead and fought out the medals.

Pintado pulled away in the final kilometre with a big surge with the fastest lap of 3:31 to win the men’s 20 km race walk by 14 seconds over Brazil’s Bonfim, and give Ecuador its first medal of Paris 2024. This was the second gold medal won for Ecuador in athletics, after Jefferson Pérez (ECU) triumphed in the same event in 1996. Stano was dropped in the 19th kilometre, although he surged near the end, but Martín held on for the bronze medal, finishing two seconds behind Bonfim. Karlström was never a factor, finishing 21st.