TOKYO : Maria Perez collected her second gold medal of the world championships in the 20 kilometre walk on Sunday to achieve a historic double-double after also successfully defending her 35km title last week.
The 29-year-old Spaniard slapped her singlet in delight as she crossed the line in one hour, 25 minutes and 54 seconds, a comfortable 12 seconds ahead of Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez in second place.
To the delight of the roaring National Stadium crowd, Nanako Fujii just held off charging Ecuadorian Paula Milena Torres at the line to finish third and become the first Japanese woman to win a medal at these championships.
Perez also did the 20-km-35-km double at the last world championships in Budapest two years ago.
