China's Yang Jiayu blazed to gold in the women's 20km race walk at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

The 28-year-old pulled ahead of the field after the 5km mark, and barely looked back to cross the finish line in a time of one hour, 25 minutes and 54 seconds.

Spain's Maria Perez captured the silver medal with a time of just over one hour and 26 minutes. Australia's Jemima Montag won the bronze after clocking one hour, 26 minutes and 25 seconds. (Reuters)