London: It was a triumph of youth over experience as teenager Ding Chen of China won the gold with a new Olympic record, leaving teammate Zhen Wang for the bronze even as Guatemala Erick Barrondo took silver in the men’s 20km walk here late on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Chinese finished in a new Olympic record time of 1hr, 18.46 minutes, a clear eleven seconds ahead of 21-year-old Barrondo who took silver, while Chen’s 20-year-old colleague Wang followed for the bronze in a time of 1:19.25.
In a starting field of 56, it was Japan’s Yusuke Suzuki who led the starting pack after six kms. The race was tight with only ten seconds separating the first from the top 40.
By the 10km mark, the two Chinese had taken control followed by a pack of eight.
Olympic and double world champion Valeriy Borchin of Russia collapsed with exhaustion on the final stretch as he fought to stay in contention for the bronze against a much younger Wang.
