Walking his way to history
France’s Diniz becomes oldest competitor to take world title
LONDON — Mercurial Frenchman Yohann Diniz finally secured the global title that had frustratingly eluded him when he won men’s 50 kilometers walk at the world championships in his sixth attempt on Sunday.
The 39-year-old, who became the oldest winner of the event, was even able to enjoy his version of the royal wave down The Mall near Buckingham Palace after leaving his rivals trailing from an early stage of the grueling event.
Diniz spent so much time celebrating with spectators close to the finish that he missed the opportunity to eclipse his own world-best mark as he finished in 3hrs 33min 12sec — 39sec short of his mark from Zurich in 2014 when he won the third of three European titles, but still the second-fastest time in history and a championship record.
It was a far happier outcome than his experience in the 2012 Olympics, where he was disqualified, or last year’s Rio Games, where he collapsed twice before finishing eighth.
However, Diniz, who was also disqualified in the 2008 Olympics, confessed to having to pull himself together at one point when he received a warning.
“I started having doubts after 20km,” said Diniz, whose previous best performance was silver in the 2007 championships.
“I got a card around 20km too and I thought, ‘I just must not mess this up’. I just concentrated completely on my technique.”
Diniz, who gave France its third gold medal of the championships, said he purposely avoided watching Saturday’s action.
“A lot of training has gone into this — cycling, swimming — everything for this 50km walk.
“Last night I kept away from watching the TV (athletics coverage) because I did not want to get too excited. I went to bed at 9 because I knew it was going to be my day today.”
Despite his advancing years, Diniz said he was likely to carry on and have one last shot at winning the only major title that has eluded him: Olympic gold.
“It is a lovely Sunday afternoon. I know you should never take any decision when you are hot,” he said. “I am still missing one (title) and that is the Olympic one. It would be a nice way to finish in Tokyo.”
Japan’s Hirooki Arai came second, giving Asia its highest ever placing in the event, and teammate Kai Kobayashi took bronze, finishing eight minutes behind the winner.
The women’s race made its debut at the championships — with just seven competitors — and was won by Ines Henriques of Portugal breaking her own world record, timing 4hr 05min 56sec.
The women’s 20km race had a dramatic climax with China’s Yang Jiayu winning gold after compatriot Lyu Xiuzhi was disqualified just seconds from the line.