Italy's Stano wins men's 20km race walk at Tokyo Olympics

Ikeda Koki (L front) and Yamanishi Toshikazu (C front) of Japan and Massimo Stano of Italy compete during the men's 20km race walk final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, Aug. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

TOKYO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Massimo Stano of Italy claimed the men's 20km race walk gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

With the first athletics road race taking place in Sapporo, Stano gradually took the lead in the final kilometers and crossed the finish line first in 1 hour 21 minutes and 5 seconds.

Japan's Koki Ikeda finished second in 1:21:14, followed by his teammate and reigning world champion Toshikazu Yamanishi with 23 seconds behind Stano.

China's Wang Kaihua was in a solo lead after the halfway mark, but he failed to hold off the challenge from behind and eventually ranked seventh in 1:22:03.

Another Chinese walker Zhang Jun finished eighth in 1:22:16.