■Paris Olympics, Athletics, Men’s 20km Race Walk (January 1, Japan time, Trocadero Square)

The first event in track and field was the men’s 20km race walk, and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Mukai Ikeda (26, Asahi Kasei) placed 7th with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes 41 seconds. Although he was unable to win a medal for the second consecutive Olympics, he still placed in the top three. Yuta Koga (25, Otsuka Pharmaceutical), who was participating for the first time, also placed 8th, meaning that two Japanese athletes won prizes. Ryo Hamanishi (24, Sunbelx) placed 18th.

The start time was delayed by 30 minutes due to bad weather, but blue sky peeked out from between the clouds at the start.
The leader passed the first 5km in 20 minutes 19 seconds. At a relaxed pace, the Japanese runners Ikeda, Hamanishi and Koga raced in the lead pack.

The L-shaped course was 1km long and took in Paris’ famous sights, including the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River. Ikeda, who recorded a time of 1 hour 16 minutes 51 seconds in February this year, was the fastest of the participants, and even after the 10km mark, he was still in 10th place with almost no time difference from the leader. At the 14km mark, the talented runner P. Carlstrom (Sweden) was 10 seconds behind the leader, and just before the 15km mark, Hamanishi had fallen behind the leading group.

In the second half, the pace picked up and four runners, including Tokyo Olympic gold medalist M. Stano (Italy), broke away, but Ikeda was unable to keep up and began to fall behind. At 18km, he was in 7th place, 12 seconds behind the leader. He continued to chase the leaders, but finished the race in 7th place with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes 41 seconds. Koga was in 9th place at 19km, but moved up one place at the end and finished in 1 hour 19 seconds 50 seconds. This was his first time competing and he won a prize.

The winner was BD Pintado of Ecuador. The silver medal went to C. Bonfim (Brazil) and the bronze medal went to A. Martin (Spain).