France’s Diniz successfully defends 50K walk gold at European Championships in Barcelona

Diniz defends European 50K walk gold in Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain — Yohann Diniz of France successfully defended his 50-kilometer walk title at the European Championships on Friday.

Diniz won the men’s event in 3 hours, 40 minutes, 37 seconds to earn France’s leading third gold in Barcelona and seventh medal overall.

Diniz led from the start and celebrated wildly after setting the European season’s fastest time by over nine minutes.

“I knew I was going to win the race from the very beginning,” Diniz said.

Gregorz Sudol of Poland took silver with a personal best time of 3:42:24, while Sergey Bakulin of Russia won bronze after finishing the street race in 3:43:26.

Olympic champion Alex Schwazer — who won silver in the 20-kilometer walk on Tuesday — pulled out near the finish because of a muscle injury in his right leg. World silver medalist Trond Nymark and two-time world champion Sergey Kirdyapkin also failed to finish.

Women’s high jump favorite Blanka Vlasic of Croatia advanced to the final, as did defending champion and Olympic gold medalist Tia Hellebaut of Belgium. Former European silver winner Venelina Veneza of Bulgaria failed to make the cut.

Christophe Lemaitre aims for the sprint double later as he tries for a 200-meter gold to go with his 100 title. Also, a new women’s pole vault champion will be crowned with defending champion Yelena Isinbayeva skipping the championships.