EUGENE (Oregon): Peruvian Kimberly Garcia Leon won the first gold medal of the World Athletics Championships yesterday in the 20km 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 5km under sunny, hot conditions.

But with 3km 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.