Valeriy Borchin defends 20K walk title at worlds

DAEGU, South Korea – Olympic champion Valeriy Borchin won the 20-kilometer walk Saturday at the world championships, beating Russian teammate Vladimir Kanaykin.

The defending world champion took the lead at the 14-kilometer mark and won the race in 1 hour, 19 minutes, 56 seconds. The 25-year-old Borchin, who in 2008 became the youngest Olympic 20-kilometer walk champion, broke away from the pack at the 15-kilometer mark and never was seriously challenged.

Kanaykin took silver, 31 seconds behind in 1:20:27, and Luis Fernando Lopez was third in 1:20:38 to win Colombia’s first world championship medal in athletics.

Wang Zhen of China, who had set the world’s fastest time this year, finished fourth.

Yusuke Suzuki set the pace early when he and Giorgio Rubino broke away from the pack. But neither could hold the lead in humid conditions, with Rubino dropping out at the 11-kilometer mark — tossing his water bottle in frustration. Suzuki held onto third until the 18-kilometer mark, when he, too, faded to finish eighth.

Borchin and Wang eased past Suzuki to make it a two-man race. But Borchin surged and Wang couldn’t hold onto second, dropping back in the final kilometer to allow Kanaykin and Lopez to pass him.

Soon after crossing the finish line, Borchin and Kanaykin embraced. It was a sweet 1-2 for the pair who have struggled to overcome adversity in the past, with Borchin serving a one-year suspension for doping that ended May 31, 2006, and Kanaykin serving a two-year ban from 2008.

Lopez came in a surprise third, racing to a season best in of his best times at an international event. The Colombian national record holder finished fifth two years ago at the worlds.