The sun beat down upon the Paris streets, burning exposed skin, sweat pouring off bodies. And that was just the spectators. The women's 20km race walk represented an appalling test of brutality amidst the beauty of the Parisian streets.
To witness the waif-like athletes wilting as they relentlessly charged through the 1km course around the Trocadéro district, over the Pont d'Iéna, was humbling in the extreme. Every medal earned at these Games has been done so through years of sacrifice and brutal training. But few will be as hard earned as the bronze that Jemima Montag claimed in the steamy Thursday morning heat.
The diminutive Victorian, eyes shielded by circular sunglasses, betrayed no feelings of discomfort during the 20 brutal kilometres of hard racing that were more Queensland in the height of summer than the Melbourne roads she is used to. Having finished sixth in similarly oppressive conditions in Tokyo, and earning a silver medal at the 2023 world championships, Montag was one of the favourites for a medal in Paris and delivered with aplomb.
With the Eiffel Tower looming large over proceedings, and masses of crowds lining the route, the athletes put on a show of gladiatorial intensity. The race was as much against each other as the conditions; a battle of the elements. The women's race took place in the heat of the day, pushed back 30 minutes to start at 9:50am local time.
China's Yang Jiayu broke hard and broke early, stretching the field and establishing a lead that she would never relinquish. "We weren't expecting the race to be that fast," Montag's coach, Brent Vallance, told ABC Sport.
A chasing pack developing with Montag playing a key role, although the heat was beginning to tell. "There were so many moments during that hour and a half when there were still so many women," Montag said post-race. "It was hot, it was loud, the crowd was going absolutely crazy. I just kept competing, 'One more lap, one more lap'.
Spain's María Pérez broke away from that pack, which evaporated as quickly as the puddles on the Paris streets in the heat, with Montag chasing hard but just unable to close the gap. "Very nerve-wracking there for periods of the race," Vallance said. "We got a little distressed mid-race when moves were made — both staff on the sideline and Jemima herself – but she powered home strongly."
The toll that the intense racing took on the athletes was clear as they crossed the line. Pérez staggered, leaning against the finishing post barely able to move as volunteers wrapped cold towels around her. Montag, when she crossed the line, had to lift her opponent's arm to put it over her shoulder. This was not a celebration of finishing in the top three. This was a celebration of finishing at all.
Former triathlete Rebecca Henderson, who must have been looking longingly at the River Seine, invitingly flowing below the Pont d'Iéna, admirably came 31st over eight minutes down. For youngster Olivia Sandery, just 21 years young, the brutal conditions were just too much. She did not finish, one of two athletes who simply baked out on course, limping into the arms of the waiting support crews before being helped into a wheelchair. It's a testament to all those athletes that more did not falter in the oven-like heat.
Vallance said he was "ecstatic" with Montag's performance, but knew that the heat would work in his charge's favour. "The conditions here, with a bit of overcast skies this morning, it is very hot. Pushing the race back 30 minutes, we certainly thought that would be an advantage for us, given the way we prepared our athletes for heat over the years," he said.
"We were happy when it got pushed back. We were happy when the sun came out. We know it's very humid here at the moment. There's a bit of a radiant heat from the sun as well. We prepared well for our heat training. We've got a lot of little tricks up our sleeve we've been using for a number of years in the past, you know all the lessons learned from Jared Talent's campaigns over many, many years."
The men's race, won by Brian Pintado of Ecuador, might have started earlier, but was just as steamy and just as oppressive. Spain's bronze medallist Álvaro Martín said, without any exaggerating, "I practically didn't have any more strength". "I cannot explain it myself, I don't have the lucidity in my brain. I am so happy. It was an incredible backdrop to the race."
