Brian Pintado of Cuenca won Ecuador’s first gold medal in the 2024 Paris
The 29-year-old clocked 1:18:55 to earn his country's first Olympic gold medal in athletics since fellow racewalker Jefferson Perez won gold in this discipline at the 1996 Olympics.
Ecuador's Brian Pintado won the men's 20km at the Paris 2024 Olympics, earning the first athletics gold medal of the Games.
Brazil's Caio Bonfim took silver in 1:19:09 and world champion Alvaro Martin earned bronze in 1:19:11. Defending champion Massimo Stano of Italy finished one-second shy of a medal in fourth place.
Pintado, the world silver medallist over 35km, went on to cross the line in 1:18:55 to take gold, 14 seconds ahead of Bonfim, who achieved his best-ever finish at a global championship following his world bronze medals in 2023 and 2017. Martin, the double world champion, claimed bronze – redemption of sorts after finishing fourth in Tokyo three years ago.
“It was insane,” said Pintado. “In the last few meters, I realized I was completely alone, and seeing the finish line I just kept thinking, ‘I'm the Olympic champion, it's me’.
“It has been tough to be away from my family, my wife, my kids, for four months and just seeing them through a screen,” he added. “But they were with me throughout the race. I have a picture of them with me. I also have a necklace of my son running beside me. I am wearing a scarf that my grandmother gave me. So really, they were with me all this time.”
