Russia’s Sergey Kirdyapkin dominated the final fifth of the men’s 50-kilometer race walk, winning by almost a minute over defending Olympic champion Jared Tallent and setting a new Olympic record at 3:35:59. Kiryapkin took 1:10 off the old record, set in Beijing in 2008.
The race started fast, with the lead changing hands several times before China’s Si Tianfeng moved from eighth place to the front at the 35-km mark.
Si’s bid for gold was short-lived. The speeding Chinese (like most of the top ten, he walked a personal best time) only held the lead for five kilometers he started to slow and before Kirdyapkin took over.
Once in front, Kirdyapkin opened an insurmountable lead; with five km left, he was 26 seconds ahead of the field and still stretching the gap. He crossed the line 54 seconds ahead of Australia’s Jared Tallent, who also walked a personal best.
Si hung on for third, finishing 23 second behind Tallent. Fourth was Ireland’s Robert Heffernan, who set a national record of 3:37:54,
