Olympic Track and Field 2016: Men's 20KM Walk Medal Winners, Times and Results

Wang Zhen ensured China remained the dominant country in the men's 20-kilometer race walk Friday at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, posting a time of  one hour, 19 minutes and 14 seconds to seize the gold medal.

Cai Zelin followed closely behind for the silver with a time of 1:19:26, while Dane Bird-Smith of Australia rounded out the podium with bronze thanks to a time of 1:19:37. 

Here are the medal results from the event, as well as an updated look at the medal standings from Rio so far. The full list of results is available here. 

Place	Athlete	Country	Time
Gold	Zhen Wang	CHN	1:19:14
Silver	Cai Zelin	CHN	+0:12
Bronze	Dane Bird-Smith	AUS	+0:23

It was grueling 12.4-mile trek for all involved. While it doesn't sound like much on paper, rules mandate one foot must remain on the ground at all times, meaning the athletes took many more steps than one would at a brisk jog while tackling 20 laps in Pontal at the Grumari circuit's beachside course.

China entered as the heavy favorite as expected. Chen Ding was defending champion after taking gold in 2012 in London, flanked by Zhen, the bronze medalist, and Zelin. For Ding, the fact no man has ever successfully defended his title in this event seemed to hang over his performance Friday.

Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez, though, entered as the biggest threat after shocking the world in Beijing last year, stealing gold from the Chinese on their home turf. He entered Friday looking to pull off another shocker and wasn't shy about it leading up to the race.

“I’m going to Rio to fight for the gold medal,” Lopez said, according to Phil Minshull of the IAAF. "I’m not going to settle for a silver or bronze. OK, if I’ve given everything and get the silver then I can be happy but logically, at this stage, it’s only gold I’m interested in."

The rest of the field, including a few surprises, had other plans.

Kim Hyun-sub of South Korea set the early pace, breaking free of the congestion over the first few laps of the contest. By the two-kilometer mark, expected contender Daisuke Matsunaga out of Japan had assumed the lead momentarily.

From there it was the Tom Bosworth show. The British representative distanced himself and kept it that way, going four kilometers in 16:15. Twitter user Tenerife Tony put it best:

There's little exaggeration there—Bosworth opened up such a wide lead the broadcasters rode the camera motorcycle into the gap between him and the rest of the field comfortably.

Eventually, Samuel Ireri Gathimba of Kenya would challenge momentarily, but Cai Zelin overtook Bosworth around the 14-kilometer mark, and two kilometers later, Bosworth fell seven slots in the standings.

China staged a raid on the standings during the 17th kilometer as Zhen joined Zelin atop the leaderboard, the former eventually breaking away from his fellow countryman to cross the finish line first.

Team China celebrated on Twitter:

The strong trio of Japanese racers didn't grab as many headlines as their Chinese counterparts before Saturday, but Eiki Takahashi entered as the world leader with a time of 1:18:26. His teammates, Isamu Fujisawa and Daisuke Matsunaga, also entered as major threats to pull an upset.

Matsunaga wound up finishing seventh, with Takahashi 42nd and Fujisawa 21st.

As for the confident Lopez, he wound up 11th. Ding encountered difficulty most of the day and finished 39th. Bosworth landed a respectable sixth, with his team revealing he broke a record in the process:

As far as other notables go, the host country hinged its hopes on Caio Bonfim. He finished sixth in Beijing last year when Lopez pulled off his upset and put on an epic push late Friday to land in fourth place.

Given the incredible depth of the field and the harsh conditions endured, Zheng is a most deserving champion and carved out one of the better Olympic moments in Rio thus far.

Stats and information courtesy of Rio2016.com.