Álvaro Martin won the first gold medal of the 2023 world athletics championships on Saturday in the men's 20km walk.
The 29-year-old Spaniard finished in one hour, 17 minutes and 32 seconds - the fastest time this year.
"I was fourth at the last Olympic Games, I missed the bronze which motivated me to work hard," Martin said following a race in which five of the first six finishers broke national records.
"In Japan, I felt when I was in fourth position that I could win a medal. Unfortunately, it did not happen and that is why this gold medal is next step towards the Olympic Games in Paris.
"I didn't know if I could do it and to win in the time that I did is amazing."
Perseus Karlstrom from Sweden was seven seconds behind with a Swedish national record time and Caio Bonfim from Brazil claimed bronze with another national record time.
Toshikazu Yamanishi, who was going for his third win in a row following successes in Doha in 2019 and Oregon last year, finished in 24th place.
The race around a course in Budapest city centre was delayed by two hours due to a torrential downpour of rain that also postponed the start of the heats at the National Athletics Centre to the south of the city centre.
Ryan Crouser, the defending champion in the men's shot put, advanced to Saturday night's final with a throw of 21.48 metres.
Three other men, Jacko Gill, Zane Weir and Darlo Romani threw over the 21.40m qualifying distance. Filip Mihaljevic from Croatia and the Jamaican Rajindra Campbell also progressed.
"The opening round is one thing and the final is another competition," said Romani who topped the qualifiers with a throw of 22.37m.
"It should be a great competition in front of a wonderful crowd."
The partisans also had reason to celebrate and lament. Hungary's 4x400m mixed relay team recorded a national record of 3 minutes 14.08 seconds but finished fifth in their heat to miss out on a place in Saturday night's final.
