Poland’s Dawid Tomala won the men’s Olympic 50 kilometres race walk on Friday, defying the punishing morning heat in Sapporo to storm to victory in just the second event he has completed over the distance.
The 31-year-old crossed the line in 3 hours 50 minutes and 8 seconds, matching the achievement of compatriot Robert Korzeniowski, who won the event three times.
“I work for it my whole life since I was 15 when I thought for the first time during training I would like to be a (Olympic) gold medallist,” said Tomala.
“At first I thought (I wanted to win Olympic gold in the) 20km, but this year changed everything. I competed over 50km in Dudince (Slovakia, where he finished fifth).
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