Matej Tóth winning Olympic gold in 2016. (source: TASR)
The 50km walking race brought the first medal in athletics for Slovakia since it became independent in 1993. Race walker Matej Tóth (33) crossed the finish line after 3:40:58, defeating Australian Jared Tallent and Japanese Hiroki Arai, to win the gold medal.
Slovakia now has three medals, with two being won in white water slaloms.
It was Tóth’s 10th overall 50km race.
Meanwhile, Slovak representatives in men’s K4 1,000m advanced to the August 20 finals. Current world champions Denis Myšák, Erik Vlček, Juraj Tarr and Tibor Linka finished second in the heat round, after Germany. In the second round of semi-finals they advanced from the first position, TASR reported.
