Diniz, who also holds the 50-km world record, clocked one hour 17:02 minutes in Arles to improve the previous record held by Russian Vladimir Kanaykin since 2007, by 14 seconds.
"I felt like I was flying," said Diniz, who accelerated in the final five kilometres.
Diniz, however, has never made it to the podium of a world championships or Olympic Games in 20km, his best performance being a silver medal over 50km at the 2007 world championships.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Martyn Herman)
Share
