The Ethiopian athlete Misgana Wakuma finished in 6th place in the men’s 20 km race walk at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday, setting a new national record for Ethiopia with a time of 1:19:31, surpassing his own previous record. His last performance was at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya, Turkey, in April 2024, where he finished with a time of 1:20:51.

Ecuador’s Brian Pintado won the 20km race walk, pulling ahead of the pack in the final stages to claim his country’s first gold medal in the event. Brazil’s Caio Bonfim secured the silver medal in 1:19:09 and world champion Alvaro Martin claimed bronze in 1:19:11. Defending champion Massimo Stano of Italy finished one second shy of a medal in fourth place.

The start of the race, originally scheduled for 7:30 a.m., was postponed by 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm. The participants competed on a one-kilometer loop in the center of Paris, walking at speeds exceeding 15 km/h in humid conditions, with temperatures around 23°C and 86% humidity. The leading group gradually shrank until Bonfim accelerated at the 18th kilometer, an opportunity that Pintado capitalized on.

Ethiopia does not have a history in the race-walking athletic discipline. Misgana himself began with classical running as a young boy in his village but did not always follow his passion. After arriving in Addis Ababa and working various jobs such as a waiter and porter, he told an interviewer that his old passion was rekindled six years later when he resumed running following the Covid lockdown. He soon took up race walking while attempting to join the Ethiopian Federal Police Club and received guidance from trainer Hamsale Yakob. In 2022, representing Ethiopia for the first time abroad, he competed in the 22nd CAA African Athletics Championships in Mauritius, where he finished fourth in the 20-kilometer walk event. He went on to win gold in the same event at the 2023 African Games, held on March 20, 2024, in Accra, Ghana, with a time of 1:28:05.

This is Ethiopia’s first participation in the Paris Olympics. The 2024 Paris Olympics are currently underway, but Ethiopian athletics fans will have to wait a bit longer to see their favorite athletes. Track and field events will begin on Friday and continue through the following week, when Ethiopia and Kenya will compete for medals in the long and middle-distance events.