O'Sullivan's Mexican stroll

Ireland’s Gillian O’Sullivan won the inaugural IAAF Race Walking Challenge over a testing 20-km course in Tijuana, Mexico.

O’Sullivan claimed a comfortable victory in a time of one hour 29 minutes and 55 seconds ahead of Russia’s Nadezhda Ryashkina (1-31.39) and Portugal’s Susana Feitor (1-32:34).

O’Sullivan broke away after three of the 10 laps.

The Cork University walker said: “I felt strong enough so I decided to break away early.

“I knew the field very well and I was confident I could keep my lead through the finish.

“I tried to speed up the pace and I did, but as the start was much slower than expected I could not achieve the time I planned.”

Mexico’s Bernardo Segura won the men’s race.