Who won the men's 50km race walk gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics?

Matej Tóth won the men's 50km race walk gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Slovak walker finished in 3:40:58 on 19 August 2016, winning Slovakia's first Olympic gold medal in the event.

Tóth was already a major contender: he had won the 50km walk at the 2015 World Championships. In Rio, he held off Australia's Jared Tallent, the reigning Olympic champion, who took silver. Japan's Hirooki Arai finished third.

The race became particularly memorable because the bronze medal changed briefly after the finish. Canada's Evan Dunfee was initially awarded third following a protest over contact between Arai and Dunfee during the closing kilometres. Japan appealed successfully, and Arai was reinstated as the bronze medalist.

Race walking differs from ordinary distance running because competitors must maintain visible contact with the ground and keep the advancing leg straight until it passes beneath the body. Rio's 50km race was one of the longest events on the Olympic athletics programme, though the distance was later removed from the Olympic schedule.