Alvaro Martin wins the 35km race walk at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (© Getty Images)
Spain’s Alvaro Martin, winner of the men’s 20km race walk on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, completed a golden double here as he proved to be a hero again in Heroes Square by claiming the men’s 35km title.
The 29-year-old from Llerena, whose victory in the shorter race was his first global success following European 20km wins in 2018 and 2022, waited until the final kilometre before moving past Ecuador’s Brian Pintado to establish a swift and decisive lead, finishing in a national record of 2:24:30.
It was the first part of a Spanish ‘double double’ as, shortly afterwards, his teamate Maria Perez, winner of the women’s 20km race, added a second gold over 35km.
“I am so tired,” said Martin after completing a race that had begun at 7am to mitigate the effects of the current heatwave here.
“I was fourth in the Olympic Games and it was very tough to get so close to an Olympic medal, so it's wonderful now to be a double world champion in Budapest. I see Maria is first too in the women's race, so today is a great day for Spain.”
The midway part of the race featured a lone breakaway by France’s Aurelien Quinion, 14th in this event at last year’s World Championships, who stretched his lead to 37 seconds by the 23km mark before the field moved back to him inexorably.
Under pressure, Quinion began to accrue red cards for loss of contact, and his challenge effectively ended shortly after his lead had been reduced to nine seconds at the 29km mark as he received a third red card, meaning he had to sit out of the race for a penalty of three minutes and 30 seconds.
Upon resumption, a fourth red card triggered his disqualification – something he also experienced at last year’s European Championships in Munich.
Pintado, clearly struggling with the intense conditions, held on to take silver in a South American record of 2:24:34.
Bronze went to Japan’s Masatora Kawano, silver medallist in this event at last year’s World Championships, who finished in 2:25:12 after managing to keep at bay the challenge of Canada’s Evan Dunfee, who placed fourth – just as he had in the 20km race – in 2:25:28.
Germany’s Christopher Linke, always involved in the leading group, was fifth in a national record of 2:25:35, with Japan’s Tomohiro Noda sixth in 2:25:50 and Italy’s defending champion Massimo Stano, who faded during the closing stages, seventh in 2:25:59.
Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden, seeking to add to the 20km silver he won on Saturday, figured only briefly in the lead group before finishing eighth in 2:27:03.
China’s He Xianghong, fifth in Oregon last year in a national record of 2:24:45, and an Asian record breaker with 2:22:55 earlier this year, also slipped from the lead group in the final kilometres, finishing 23rd in 2:37:21.
Spain’s European champion Miguel Angel Lopez had led the men through 5km in 20:39, with Stano, Martin and He at his shoulder. Already the sun was beginning to become uncomfortably hot and drinks were being imbibed and doused on heads and shoulders.
By 10km, Karlstrom had moved up to take the lead, passing in 41:33 with He, Martin, Lopez and Stano just behind, and Linke, Dunfee, Noda two seconds further back.
Dunfee, repurposing himself as a shorter distance athlete having earned bronze at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the last 50km race walk to be staged at the Games, then moved up to get the feel of the lead, taking the pack through 12km in 49:56.
But the race burst into life shortly after this point as Quinion, who had been two seconds back at 13km, surged to the front and established a five-second lead a kilometre later.
By 15km the French racer’s lead had extended to 12 seconds, and a kilometre on it was 13 seconds as the main group of favourites withheld from making any big effort to catch him.
The decision was becoming more acute by the 16km mark as Quinion extended his lead to 20 seconds.
As the race entered the second half, Quinion, with peaked cap pulled low over his brow and a white cooling towel draped around his neck, was continuing to push, and his lead at the 18km point was 26 seconds from Dunfee at the head of the chasing group of about a dozen.
The Frenchman was going for broke – at 21km his lead was 28 seconds; at 22km he was 36 seconds clear; at 23km he was 37 seconds clear, with Ecuador’s Pintado now taking up the chase in earnest, with Stano, Noda, Martin, Kawano, Bonfim, Dunfee and Linke in close attendance.
The tide began to turn, however, as Dunfee took up the pace again, reducing the lead to 33 seconds by the 22km marker, and with 10km remaining that margin remained, with Stano, Martin, Lopez and Dunfee all in earnest in a chasing group of seven.
Soon Quinion began to hear the sound of reeling as the pack moved up on him. His 22 seconds lead at the 28km mark had been reduced to nine seconds at 29km, and, critically, the Frenchman, under pressure, had begun to pick up red cards before making a penalty pit-stop.
Martin responded most smartly, taking a seven-second lead at the 30km mark from Dunfee, with Linke and Noda eight seconds back.
But Pintado had not finished yet, moving back into the lead at 31km, marginally ahead of Martin and Noda as Dunfee dropped back into fourth place, 12 seconds adrift.
As the field approached the 33km marker, Martin – with the sun becoming intense – was drafting the Ecuadorian, with Kawano struggling to hold on to bronze with Dunfee still in the hunt and finishing strongly.
But as the race entered the final kilometre, Martin flicked the switch and made his decisive move – and there was nothing Pintado could do about it.
“In the last kilometre I had to push hard because I was so tired and Pintado was so close,” said Martin. “It was a tougher race today than Saturday and this medal was more difficult to win. But in the end it is an amazing day for Spanish sport because we made history with four gold medals.
“It is a great day for my nation and a great day for my career. Right now I am flying, I am in the clouds. After being fourth in Tokyo, I kept training, and now I am sky-high. I only want to enjoy these amazing days. Of course, the Olympics is the ultimate goal because it is the pinnacle of a career. So I am going to train hard, and fight for it, and dream of it. But now I want to enjoy this historic day.”
Pintado said: “The race today was very strategic. I planned to stay behind and surprise them on the last lap but I was missing a few seconds in the end.”
Stano commented: “I had a good race. It was a great struggle for everybody. I'm in good shape, but I only finished seventh. I used all the energy in my body and in my mind too. I hope I will do better in the Olympic Games next year.”
Dunfee, 32, commented: “I felt pretty good after the 20km but I am getting older! My hamstring was really bugging me today and my physio did an amazing job to get it as good as we could. It felt good for most of the race, then at 32km it just went pop. I thought I was done. I didn't even know if I was going to finish. Somehow it calmed down enough to let me finish, but I couldn't make it back up.
“To finish fourth again is absolutely heartbreaking. In the 20km it was breakthrough race. I was disappointed with my position but proud of how I raced. This one, I wanted to go medal or broke. And I guess I broke.”
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
| MEN'S 1500m MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Alvaro Martin 🇪🇸 ESP | 2:24:30 NR |
| 🥈 | Brian Pintado 🇪🇨 ECU | 2:24:34 AR |
| 🥉 | Masatora Kawano 🇯🇵 JPN | 2:25:12 SB |
| Full results | ||
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