Admin I Monday, December 16, 2024
LAUSANNE – China’s Yang Jiayu and Brazil’s Caio Bonfim have been confirmed as the overall winners in the 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Tour.
The scoring system combines each athlete’s three best world ranking performances from the series. The man and woman with the highest score each won US$25,000.
Yang, the world record-holder over 20km, started her season with a runner-up finish in Taicang in March, narrowly beaten by compatriot Ma Zhenxia, both women clocking 1:26:07. Two months later, Yang placed sixth in a high-quality race in La Coruna in 1:27:27.
But Yang was unbeatable on the sport’s biggest stage, taking the Olympic title in Paris in 1:25:54 – the third-fastest clocking of her career and her quickest time since setting the world record of 1:23:49 in 2021.
Her performance score of 1490 elevated her to the top of the Race Walking Tour standings, ahead of Australia’s Jemima Montag (3938) and Peru’s Kimberly Garcia (3901).
Bonfim, winner of last season’s tour, competed in five races on this year’s tour.
Although he didn’t achieve any individual victories this season, his year-long consistency led to podium finishes in all five races and the overall lead in the Race Walking Tour.
