TOKYO — Japanese athlete Masatora Kawano set a men’s marathon race walk world record at the All Japan Race Walking meeting in Yamagata Prefecture on Sunday, finishing the 42.195-kilometre course in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 14 seconds, Kyodo News reported.

World Athletics approved the marathon race walk, contested over the traditional marathon distance, as the replacement for the 35-km race walk at major championships in December 2024.

It officially introduced the new event in January this year and set 2:56:30 as the performance standard required for the inaugural men’s world record, with Kawano the first to break that barrier.

The meet in the town of Takahata served as a qualifier for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing next September.

Australia’s Rebecca Henderson also set a world record in winning the women’s race with a time of 3:14:52.

Kawano, 28, is a two-time world championships medalist and former world record holder in the 35-km event.

He finished sixth in the men’s 50-km race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.