China's Yang Jiayu poses for photos after winning gold in the women's 20km race walk of athletics at the Paris Olympic Games on Thursday. (Photo by Wei Xiaohao/China Daily)

On the first day of the athletics events at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, China's Yang Jiayu won the women's 20 kilometer race walk at the Trocadero venue, clinching the nation's 11th gold medal of the Games.

World record holder Yang took the lead from the outset, leveraging her focused pre-Olympic training to clinch the title in a time of 1 hour 25 minutes 54 seconds.

"I am thrilled. This gold medal has been eight years in the making. From start to finish, I maintained my own rhythm and remained confident," Yang said.

"The rising temperatures posed a significant challenge," she said. "My strategy was to trust in myself and execute my technique flawlessly."

This victory marks a significant turnaround for Yang, who finished 12th at the Tokyo Games. "Tokyo was very tricky for me, so I worked harder to make a comeback and get the best results in Paris," the 28-year-old said.

In 2021, Yang set a new world record by reaching the finish line in 1:23:49 at the National Race Walking Championships in Huangshan, East China's Anhui province.

China's supremacy in race walking continues with Yang's victory in Paris, marking the nation's 12th ever Olympic gold medal in athletics.

The tradition of excellence began with Wang Liping's gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The 2012 Games in London saw an unprecedented sweep by Chinese athletes Qieyang Shijie, Liu Hong and Lyu Xiuzhi, who claimed gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Liu Hong enhanced her illustrious career by clinching gold at the 2016 Rio Games and securing bronze in Tokyo. At the Paris Games, the now 37-year-old, who once held the world record with a time of 1:24:38, finished 21st.

Yang regards Liu, a veteran of five Olympic Games, as a role model worth emulating. "We aim to learn from her spirit and continue to uphold it, aspiring to achieve even greater success for China in the future," Yang said.