India's Sandeep Kumar (4:07:55) finished a respectable 35th in the 50 km walk despite a slow start. France's Yohann Diniz had an alarming fall after opening up a commanding lead for much of the race. Slovakia's Matej Toth (3:40:58), finished first, making a stunning late surge to upset defending champion, Australia's Jared Tallent (3:41:16), who got silver. Japan's Hirooki Arai (3:41:24) took the the bronze.
Kumar made a modest start, languishing in the 57th sport at the 5-km mark, getting there with the clock at 23:59. He settled in after this and made a slight improvement at the 10-km mark, moving three places higher to 54th.
After this, the Indian steadily improved his position. By the 15-km mark, the Haryana athlete crawled further up the table, moving to 50th with a time of 1:10:18. The heat was beginning to take a toll on the athletes, but Diniz was comfortably ahead of the rest of the pack, almost two minutes in front of Toth. Canada's Evan Dunfee was close on Toth's heels, clocking the same time.
Meanwhile, Kumar continued bettering his rank, and at the half way mark, moved up to 48th. Just 10 minutes later, the 30-year-old jumped to 43rd as some of his competitors lost steam. At the top end of the race, the high-flying Diniz lost a modicum of momentum, allowing Dunfee and Toth to close in.
With 10 kms left to cover, the race witnessed an unexpected turn. Dunfee and, importantly, Diniz, fizzled out. Tallent took the lead; Kumar was 37th at this stage. It was a see-saw battle followed by a tense finish in the final five kilometers. Tallent was poised to defend his gold, but was overtaken in the final three kilometers by the eventual winner, Toth.
