20km walk record falls again, Suzuki sets new mark

Exactly a week after Frenchman Yohann Diniz set a mark of 1:17:02 in Arles, the 27-year-old Suzuki shaved almost half a minute off it to finish in a time of 1:16:36 in his hometown of Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Suzuki, a renowned fast starter, blasted away from the outset, covering the first six km in 22:53 and going through the halfway mark in a national 10 km record of 38:05.

His blistering pace dropped off slightly with around four km to go but he finished strongly to record his third Asian title after victories in 2010 and 2013.

(Reporting by Peter Rutherford in Seoul; Editing by John O'Brien)