Cristiano Ronaldo having clear influence on Paris Olympics as race walking takes center stage

Day six of the Paris Olympic Games saw race walking gain some unexpected fans. The event, often overlooked, managed to captivate a casual audience, with both the men's and women's 20km races drawing in viewers.

The delayed start times may have even allowed for more people to tune in. Ecuador's Brian Pintado emerged victorious in the men's race, securing the country's first athletics medal since Jefferson Perez won the same event in 1996 - and he paid homage to Cristiano Ronaldo in his celebrations.

Pintado finished with a time of 1:18:55, ahead of Brazil's Caio Bonfim and world champion Alvaro Martin. Massimo Stano of Italy, the Tokyo Olympic champion, missed out on bronze by just one second.

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The women's race was dominated by China's Yang Jiayu, who broke away after just 5km to secure gold. Her time of 1:25.54 put her ahead of Spain's Maria Perez and Australia's Jemima Montag, who took silver and bronze respectively, reports the Mirror .

Jiayu had made a promise to her late father that she would make an Olympic podium. After finishing 12th in Tokyo, she said of her win in Paris: "Yeah, I'm quite happy about today's race," She added: "In Tokyo, I was penalised in the backstretch when I was fighting for this medal, and it was a pity that I didn't get on the podium. For the past three years,I've tried my best to bloom in Paris for this Olympics, I'm glad I did."

"It was never mentioned in previous interviews," she added. "But I promised him before that I would stand on the top podium, and then today I did it."

The racers' efforts were certainly appreciated by many. "I can't believe the race walk is a real Olympic sport but it is absolutely electric," said one user on X.

It was also acknowledged that they hit some real speed and walk faster than most run. "They walk a 4Min/km Pace! I barely know 10 People they can run that pace on a 20km Distance and I'm working in runners shop," said another user.

Others thought they should have entered the Games however. One person said: "The Olympic event I think I could do well in is the fast walk. every city I've even been to I walk all of it in a day. twelve hours easy id finish the race and just keep walking. explore the rest of the city."

Pintado's post-race celebrations were enjoyed by many too. The Ecuador national celebrated through the line before doing a little jump to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo's "siuuu" as he unleashed an almighty raw.

"The champion of walk race at the Olympics in Paris just hit a siuu cele. Cristiano influences everyone," observed another user, clearly a fan of the soccer legend.