Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski of Poland won gold in the 50 kilometre walk at the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton on Saturday.

Spaniard Jesus Angel Garcia, world champion in 1993, won the silver medal.

Latvia's Olympic silver medallist Aigars Fadejevs seemed on course for bronze but he was overtaken in the final 100 metres by Mexico's Edgar Hernandez.

Korzeniowski walked a tactical race and took the lead around the halfway mark, winning in three hours, 42.08 minutes, the fastest time in the world this year.

Korzeniowski entered the stadium to the cheers of a large Polish contingent.

As he crossed the line, he pumped the air with outstretched arms and then jogged a lap of victory.

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Unofficial result - men's 50 km walk:

1. Robert Korzeniowski (Poland) 3 hours 42 minutes 08 seconds
2. Jesus Angel Garcia (Spain) 3:43:07
3. Edgar Hernandez (Mexico) 3:46:12
4. Aigars Fadejevs (Latvia) 3:46:20
5. Vladimir Potemin (Russia) 3:46:53
6. Valenti Masana (Spain) 3:48:28
7. Curt Clausen (U.S.) 3:50:46
8. Marco Giungi (Italy) 3:51:09
9. Tomasz Lipiec (Poland) 3:53:06
10. Mike Trautmann (Germany) 3:53:15
11. Denis Langlois (France) 3:53:42
12. David Boulanger (France) 3:53:52
13. Francesco Galdenzi (Italy) 3:54:42
14. Phillip Dunn (U.S.) 3:56:33
15. Mikel Odriozola (Spain) 3:57:17
16. Spiridon Kastanis (Greece) 3:57:35
17. Yoshimi Hara (Japan) 3:58:47
18. Milos Holusa (Czech Republic) 3:58:54
19. Tim Berrett (Canada) 3:59:34
20. Sergey Korepanov (Kasakhstan) 3:59:57