Paris 2024 Olympics: Samuel Gathimba falls short as Ecuador's Brian Pintado claims win in men's 20km race walk

The men’s and women’s race walks at the Paris Olympics had to be delayed due to the thunderstorms, including lightning hitting the Eiffel Tower.

Samuel Gathimba was in the mix, hoping to make an impact this time around after failing to finish the race at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Gathimba started his Olympic campaign on quite a low note, hoping his strategy would work out well in order to impress the tons of Kenyans who were out to cheer him. After 5km, he was placed 18th but looking very comfortable and trusting the advice from his coach with tons of self-belief, being Kenya’s sole representative at the event.

The three-time African champion then pushed to 15th after a grueling 10km under the somewhat sunny weather in Paris that proved unbearable for many of the athletes who were at the competition and were fading slowly.

Passing the 15km mark, Gathimba was now walking his way to the top, having placed 10th behind very formidable opponents who also meant business with their prowess.

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However, passing the 15km mark, Gathimba faded to 14th place but was fighting hard to climb to the top in the hotly contested event. After the 16km mark, the Kenyan faded to 19th, with his competitors amplifying the game and looking poised in the fight for the top prize.

After the 17km mark, Gathimba had faded to 22nd place and was struggling to make an impact at the event. At that mark, Ecuador’s Brian Pintado was leading, looking very comfortable with an Ethiopian, Misgana Wakuma chasing history in the top 10.

It was Pintado who crossed the finish line first, clocking 1:18:55 to cross the finish line ahead of Brazilian Caio Bonfim who finished second in 1:19:09.

Spaniard Alvaro Martin completed the podium, clocking 1:19:11 to cross the finish line. Gathimba finished a distant 22nd in a season best time of 1:21:26.