Suzuki, Rui walk to glory in 50km races
Japanese athlete makes bold move to create history while it is a Chinese 1-2 in the women's event.
Yusuke Suzuki of Japan maintained his early lead to win the gold medal in the 50km walk race at the IAAF World Championships in Doha on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images for IAAFYusuke Suzuki became the first Japanese race walker to win a world title when he topped the field in the men’s 50km event at the IAAF World Championships in Doha in the early hours of Sunday.
Suzuki make a bold move in the early stages to build a lead that largely went unchallenged as he crossed the finish line in 4hr 4min 20sec.
Portugal’s veteran walker Joao Vieira, making his 11th World Championships appearance at the age of 43, finished second in 4:04:59, becoming the oldest medallist ever at the World Championships.
Evan Dunfee, who nearly overtook Vieira at the line but eventually finished third, just 3sec behind, became Canada’s first-ever medallist in the 50km race walk.
The results of the women’s race, which was held concurrently, went according to the formbook.
China’s Liang Rui won the women’s 50km walk gold ahead of compatriot Li Maocuo. Photo: Getty Images for IAAFChina’s former world record holder Liang Rui, who won the IAAF World Race Walking Championships last year, added another gold medal to her collection by winning the title in 4:23:26.
Teammate Li Maocuo finished 3min later to take the silver medal in 4:26:40 while Italy’s European record holder Eleonora Giorgi took the bronze medal in 4:29:13.
