China's Qieyang Shijie finished third in the women's 20km race walk final at the World Athletics Championships in 1:27:56 in Eugene, U.S., on Friday, while compatriots Liu Hong, Ma Zhenxia and Wu Quanming finished 5th, 10th, and 13th respectively. 

Kimberly Garcia Leon from Peru won the gold medal and  Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo took silver.

Qieyang and Garcia Leon shared a 20-second lead over the rest of the pack at the halfway mark and battled shoulder-to-shoulder through the next 5km in hot conditions.

But with 3km left to go, 28-year-old Garcia Leon pulled away from the 2012 Olympic champion, and crossed the line 58 seconds clear of Qieyang.

In the men's event, Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi and Koki Ikeda took gold and silver, and Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden pocketed bronze. China's Wang Kaihua, Cui Lihong, and Zhang Jun finished 13th, 14th, and 24th respectively.

(With input from Reuters)