■Paris Olympics™ Athletics Women’s 20km Race Walk (1st, Trocadero Square)

Kumiko Okada (32, Fujitsu) and Ayane Yanai (20, Ritsumeikan University) withdrew from the individual events in the women’s 20km race walk just before the event to focus on the new mixed race walk relay. Nanako Fujii (25, Edion), the only participant, received three warnings and placed 32nd in her second Olympics.

From the beginning of the race, world record holder Yang Jiayu (28) took the lead and set a fast pace. Fujii was walking around 19th place, but received his first warning for a walking style violation 5km before the end. Then, 6km before the end, he was the only athlete to receive a second warning. Fujii completed the first 10km in 44 minutes 23 seconds, and turned around in 18th place, 1 minute 17 seconds behind the leader Yang.

Yang, in the lead, was walking alone and pulling away from the rest of the pack. After 12km, Fujii received his third warning and was forced to wait in the penalty zone for two minutes. Having finished 13th in the previous tournament, Fujii was aiming for a higher position this time, but he dropped to 32nd place and started walking again. Although he was a lap behind, he managed to walk to the end and finished in 32nd place. After the race, he said, “I wasn’t able to use my full strength,” and reflected that lack of practice had caused “my walking to become erratic in the first half.”

Gold Medal: Yang Jiayu (China) 1 hour 25 minutes 54 seconds
Silver medal: M. Perez (Spain) 1 hour 26 minutes 19 seconds
Bronze medal: J. Montag (Australia) 1 hour 26 minutes 25 seconds
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32nd place: Nanako Fujii 1 hour 34 minutes 26 seconds