Paris Olympics: Aussie walker Jemima Montag races to bronze in the 20km event

Aussie athlete Jemima Montag has won bronze in the 20km race walking event at the Paris Olympics.

The Melburnian, 26, was third to cross the line in a field of 45 entrants, behind China’s Jiayu Yang and María Pérez from Spain in stifling conditions.

She was fifth at the 15km mark before surging home in the final 5km to finish just five second behind second-placed Perez.

Montag broke her own national record when she crossed the line in a time of 1:26:25- the second time she has broken it this year.

She immediately rushed to the aid of Perez, who was struggling with exhaustion after she crossed the finish line.

Montag is the second Aussie to medal in the event after Jane Saville secured bronze at Athens 20 years ago.

 A noted big-event performer, Montag was second at last year’s world championships and claimed gold at the previous two Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018 and then in Birmingham four years later.

Montag’s grandmother was a Holocaust survivor who escaped the horrors of Auschwitz, who died three years ago shortly before she competed at the Games in Tokyo.

‘I lost my nana just before the Olympic Games, and it’s only in the months that have followed that we’ve really been able to unpack her story as a Holocaust survivor,’ Montag told the ABC in 2022.

‘It’s something that understandably she didn’t want to talk about much, and there was a lot of pain and trauma there.

Earlier on Thursday, Brian Pintado from Ecuador won the first athletics event of 2024 Olympics, surging away in the final stages to claim gold in the men’s 20km walk.

Pintado clocked a winning time of 1:18:55, with the minor medals going to Caio Bonfim from Brazil (1:19:09) and Spaniard Alvaro Martin (1:19:11).

Jemima Montag broke her own national record on her way to winning bronze

Australian Declan Tingay was with the lead group through the first 15km and hung tough to finish 11th in 1:19:56, one spot ahead of countryman Rhydian Cowley.

The third Australian, Kyle Swan, was 35th.

Both races were delayed by half an hour due to overnight thunderstorms.

Montag with her Aussie teammates back up next Wednesday when the mixed marathon race walk relay makes its Olympic debut.

More to come.