Spain took the second race walking gold at the World Athletics Championships as Maria Perez crossed the finish line first in the women's 20km race on Sunday.

Maria Perez of Spain celebrates after the Women's 20km Race Walk Final of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

As her compatriot Alvaro Martin achieved in the men's 20km event on Saturday, Perez broke from the leading group with 5km to go, winning her first world title in one hour 26 minutes and 51 seconds.

"I even cannot put into the words how important it was for me to win this first global gold, especially at the 20km. Victory at this distance was my main goal for Budapest." said Perez, who was fourth in the event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but was disqualified at last year's World Championships.

Jemima Montag from Australia finished second in 1:27:16 as Italian Antonella Palmisano took the bronze medal 10 seconds later.

Chinese Yang Jiayu, who holds the world record of 1:23:49, seized a good position in the leading group after the start, but faded bit by bit in the final laps.

The 2017 world champion was placed 12th in 1:31:54, more than five seconds away from her season best.

"I didn't perform well today," said Yang. "I ran out of energy in the last 5km and I was strolling rather than race walking in the final stage."

Yang's teammate Ma Zhenxia finished seventh in 1:28:30 while 36-year-old Rio Olympic champion Liu Hong took the 17th position in 1:30:43.

27-year-old Perez revealed that she was too nervous to sleep last night and had to ask for help from the doctor. She needed some medicine to finally take a rest, but she held her nerves on Sunday morning to put everything under control.

"I put all my power into this race. I knew I had a very good gap before the last kilometer, but the last lap was extremely fast. I had to give my maximum," she said.

But Perez indicated that she might withdraw from the 35km race as she suffered hamstring cramp in the last minutes this morning.

"I need some consultation and medical examination from our doctors to see whether it will be possible to compete at 35km. Maybe it will be better to start recovering as next year is the Olympic one and I would like to stay healthy to prepare for Paris at the highest level," said Perez.