Photo/Illutration From left: Italy's Massimo Stano, Japan's Koki Ikeda and compatriot Toshikazu Yamanishi compete during the men's 20-km race walk at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Aug. 5 in Sapporo. (The Asahi Shimbun)

SAPPOR--Italy's Massimo Stano won the Olympic men's 20-kilometer race walk on Thursday, pulling ahead of the pack in the final stages to finish in 1 hour, 21 minutes and 5 seconds and claim his country's third gold medal in the event.

Japan's Koki Ikeda secured the silver medal in 1:21:14 and compatriot Toshikazu Yamanishi claimed bronze in 1:21:28, the first Olympic medals for Japan in the 20-km race walk.

World champion Yamanishi led in the early going until China's Wang Kaihua took over through the 12-km mark.

Stano moved to the front at the 16-km stage, just ahead of Ikeda and Yamanishi, until he put distance between himself and his Japanese rivals to cross the finish line nine seconds ahead.

Stano had never won a major international race so the fact the victory came on the world's biggest sporting stage made it all the sweeter for the 29-year-old.

"It's beautiful to cross the finish line first. In my life, in international races, never first. Fourth, third, sixth, never first. But in the best race, in the Olympic Games, I'm first. It's the best," he told reporters.

"It's unbelievable. I haven't woken up now, it's like a dream."

Stano made a thumb-sucking gesture on the winner's podium, in reference to his six-month-old daughter to whom he dedicated his victory.

He also exclaimed in Japanese as he crossed the finish line, "Watashi wa Olympic champion desu!" (I am Olympic champion), noting he had begun studying the language because of his love for Japanese anime.

Ikeda said he was spurred on to capture Japan's first medal in the event.

"The fact that this was in my own country was a big source of encouragement and I kept a sense of pride. I had pressure but this pressure worked well for me," he said.

World champion Yamanishi, however, came away disappointed that he had to settle for third.

"I was aiming for gold for myself and for Japan but I couldn't make it so it's very frustrating," Yamanishi said.

"Next time I want to win the gold medal."

Olympic organizers decided in 2019 to move the venue for the race walk and marathon events some 800 km north to Sapporo to escape Tokyo's summer heat, although the northern city has also been experiencing a heat wave.

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