| Triple European Champion Diniz finally won a world title after being the most dominant winner of all at London 2017. The Frenchman stayed with the field for a full 14 minutes, and then was off. Nava, who would eventually place 16th, decided to follow, but was dropped after 5Km. Diniz passed 20Km in 1:27:18, and then speeded up. His second 20Km took 1:24:13. At that point, his lead was 5:43, an unprecedented advantage. The largest winning margins in the event’s history were 3:36 by Korzeniowski in 2003, and 3:34 by Veniamin Soldatenko in 1976. Another record, at 39 years 224 days, the Frenchman became the oldest-ever male IAAF World Champion. Diniz finished off his remarkable walk with a 10Km of 41:41 to forge a victory by 8:05, clocking the second fastest mark ever of 3:33:12. His last 20Km took just 1:23:19 (3:28:28 pace!), and his 25Km halves were 1:48:24/1:44:48. Arai and Kobayashi were the best of the mortals, with Arai clocking an excellent 3:41:17 for the silver medal, two seconds ahead of Kobayashi. Finishing fourth was Glavan. He’d initially filled that position both in 2013 and 2015 (20Km), though the Moscow placing was ultimately upgraded to bronze. |
