Defending champion Kimberly Garcia Leon of Peru led a breakaway group that at the halfway mark included Perez, Montag, Olympic champion Palmisano and Yang Jiayu of China, the 2017 winner and current world record holder. The 27-year-old finished 25 seconds ahead of Montag and became the first Spanish woman to win the event at the world championships. "I cannot even put into words how important it was to me to win this gold," Perez, the 35km world record holder, said. Perez was disqualified from the 20km walk at last year's worlds as well as the 2022 European Championships, and finished fourth at the Tokyo Games. The men's and women's 35km race walk will take place on Thursday.

---

Persons: Maria Perez, Australia's Jemima Montag, Antonella Palmisano, Kimberly Garcia Leon of, Perez, Montag, Palmisano, Yang Jiayu, Alvaro Martin, cramp, Garcia Leon, Hritika Sharma, Peter Rutherford Organizations: Budapest, Tokyo Games, Thomson Locations: BUDAPEST, Spanish, Italy, Kimberly Garcia Leon of Peru, China, Eugene , Oregon, Hyderabad