Events started late in the Trocadero area due to the heavy rain that had been falling on an unusually quiet Paris since the early hours of the morning. At the start of the day, local cafés served as shelters from the rain while everyone waited for the race walking events to begin, which were delayed by half an hour due to the weather conditions.

Once the rain stopped and the first rays of light broke through the sky, everything was in place for the first of the second day of race walking events, with six of the nine medals up for grabs (the other three will be contested in the Mixed Relay on Monday 5 August at 8.30 CEST).

At the Eiffel Tower, athletes and fans began to settle in for what promised to be a real celebration, while the amateur runners took advantage of the cooler temperatures brought by the rain to jog along the Seine before heading back to their offices.

As the skies cleared, the atmosphere along the Seine near the Place de la Concorde became more lively. Latin Americans took the lead in singing and vibrant displays in support of their athletes, in stark contrast to the last Tokyo 2020 Games, which saw strict security measures due to the pandemic.

"I was part of the Tokyo 2020 organisation in Japan, but it's very different here. There you couldn't get close to the athletes because of COVID. It's like experiencing my first Olympic Games," said an emotional Quetzal Gutiérrez, who continues to support Mexico despite living in Tokyo for the past four years.

The athletes began their laps of the 1km course as the number of fans grew, dancing to 'cumbias' and 'rancheras' played by Peruvians and Mexicans, adding a special flair to the competition. Peruvian jerseys were everywhere and hopes were high for a third gold for South America, promising a great day for Kimberly García, a contender not only for the podium but for gold in the women's race walking.

The French fans were also very involved, chanting "les bleus, les bleus", but with more restraint than the passionate Latin Americans, although Spain and Italy were enthusiastic supporters of their athletes.

Not everyone was an Athletics' expert, many of the fans had their opportunity to see elite athletes up close for the first time. "It's the first time I've seen the Olympics; we're taking advantage of being in Paris. It's very interesting to watch," said Christiane, a French tourist who used the Games as an opportunity to visit the capital and experience the third Olympic Games to be held in France.

With one kilometre to go, Ecuadorian Daniel Pintado surprised everyone with a strategic race, saving his energy for the final moments. He made his first attack at 36km and took the lead. By the 10km mark, he was in fifth place and by the 14km mark, he was at the front of the main group.

In the final kilometre, the Cuenca-born athlete broke away from the lead group and headed straight for the group of Equatorian athletes, emulating the great Jefferson Pérez, who had won Ecuador's first Olympic gold in the same 20km race walking event in Atlanta 1996.

While Jefferson Pérez is considered the greatest athlete in his country's history with Olympic gold and silver medals (Beijing 2008), Daniel Pintado secured Ecuador's fourth gold medal with a time that surpassed that of his compatriot, clocking an enviable 1:18:55, compared to Pérez's 1:20:7 at the Games in Georgia, USA.

After crossing the finish line, Pintado, drenched from the combination of Parisian heat and humidity and the fatigue of the 20km race, had the surprising energy to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo's "Siu" and share a few words with the eagerly awaiting press. 

"It was crazy. In the last few metres I realised I was completely alone and when I saw the finish line I just thought: 'I'm the Olympic champion, it's me'".

"I've been to three Olympic Games and now I'm an Olympic champion. It's a dream come true," concluded Pintado after an intense final that saw Brazil, Spain and Italy battle it out for the podium.

He also took a moment to reflect on his family and the sacrifices they have made over the past few months. "It was hard to be away from my family, my wife and my kids for four months, only seeing them through a screen. But they were with me throughout the race. I have a picture of them with me."

The fight for the last two medals was intense, with just 3 seconds separating silver, bronze and the Olympic diploma. Brazilian Caio Bonfim took silver in 1:19:09 ahead of Spain's Álvaro Martin in 1:19:11, just ahead of Massimo Stano in 1:19:12.

The bronze medal for the Spanish athlete was celebrated by his friends who had travelled all the way from the small town of Llerena (Badajoz, Extremadura) to wait behind the barriers to hug him and congratulate him for leaving the last Olympic champion (Stano) behind. "We are waiting to talk to him. I'm very happy and proud of what Álvaro has achieved. He had the Olympic medal in mind, but after the World Championships we saw that he was coming strong," said Claudio Mellán, a lifelong friend of the Olympic bronze medallist.

"He spent over ten years away from home, working, training hard, competing, travelling far away from family, friends and his partner. It's been a huge sacrifice and truly a well-deserved reward for everything he's done," added Mellán, well aware of his friend's disappointment at Tokyo 2020 when he lost the medal almost at the finish line.

For some, like Italy's Francesco Fortunato, it is all about competing, even if everyone logically wants the glory. "It was very exciting to compete with the best in the world here in Paris. It was a good race, but very tough. The weather was very hot and humid," he told Inside The Games after the competition.

"I am very proud to be at the Olympics, not so much with my 20th place. I was expecting a better result, but this is sport and that's what happens," concluded the athlete from Puglia, who recently won bronze at the European Athletics Championships 2024.

Between the celebrations of the first round of competitors and the start of the next event, there was time for personal emotion as a mother watched her daughter, French racewalker Camille Moutard, compete. "I came to see my daughter Camille. As you can see, I'm very happy, very emotional," a tearful Nadia Moutard told Inside The Games, unable to hide her joy at seeing her 22-year-old daughter compete at the Olympic pinnacle.

In much harsher conditions than the men who competed earlier in the day, the women had to race against each other and the extremely hot and humid Parisian weather.

A few minutes before 10 (CEST), with the sun shining down on the course between the Eiffel Tower, the Jacques Chirac quay and the Pont de Jena, the athletes' dream began.

Peruvian 'Kimy' García, one of the favourites and the world number one in women's race walking, didn't shine as expected. Although she led the pack for the first few kilometres, she gradually dropped back and finished in 16th place with a time of 1:30:10, disappointing the hundreds of Peruvian fans who had hoped to see the country emulate its Ecuadorian neighbours with another Olympic gold medal (and the fourth for Latin America after Guatemala and Argentina won gold on Wednesday).

Unlike the men's race, where most of the field remained in groups until the halfway point, the women's race quickly saw around ten riders break away from the pack.

By the sixth kilometre, Yang Jiayu was gathering strength and began to pull away from her rivals, despite being one of the first to receive a warning. By 10km, the double continental champion from China had a lead of over half a minute.

At the 14km mark, Spain's María Pérez began to close the gap on Yang, who, once in the lead, didn't let go and began to close the gap, which had reached 44 seconds. Pérez made up half a minute, but she couldn't complete the chase and had to settle for defending her privileged second place from the onslaught of Australian Jemima Montag in the final two kilometres.

At the final awards ceremony, the joy and celebratory mood of the winners was matched by the emotion of those who have attended various Olympic Games over the years, such as Catherine Bergland McLaughlin, a Canadian living in Ireland who has embraced the Olympic spirit.

Historias de #PARIS2024
"Son mis undécimos #JuegosOlímpicos. Hoy fue increíble. Mi primera vez en #LosÁngeles1984. Esa prueba de marcha fue en una pequeña calle residencial oscura, llena de latinos de clase trabajadora y casi ningún espectador presente" dijo Catherine Bergland pic.twitter.com/i2W2sYM8Ai

— Raúl F. Daffunchio Picazo (@DaffunchioPicaz) August 1, 2024

"This is my 11th Olympic Games. Today was incredible. We just watched the 20km race. My first Olympic Games was in Los Angeles in 1984. That race was on a small, dark residential street, full of working class Latinos and almost no spectators.

Reflecting on how the Games have changed in just 40 years, the Canadian, who supported Spain in the race walking events, concluded: "Today is different, a great spectacle in Paris. It was so nice to see the Spanish, Ecuadorian and Peruvian fans singing or the French chanting 'Allez, les bleus' as the French walkers passed by. It was really beautiful.

After an exhausting day, and despite the fact that nearly two hours had passed, Alejandra Ortega Solis' sister made a significant observation while waiting to congratulate her sister. "It was a wonderful experience to see my sister competing in the Olympic Games with the Eiffel Tower in the background. There is a lot of sacrifice behind her Olympic competition. In Mexico there isn't much support, they have to pay their own way. I hope this will change, because Olympic athletes represent our country on a global level and are essential to our culture," Maricarmen concluded.