As the Cork native lifted his sunglasses to the top of his head after passing through the blue ribbon held out in the stadium for the finish it was hard to say whether his expression was one of pain or joy, but there was no ambiguity seconds later as his wife and fellow athlete, Maria, raced out of the stands to embrace him as photographers gathered to record the celebrations.

"That is brilliant," said Heffernan, who was Ireland's best bet for gold here but had finished just outside the medals on four occasions at major championships.

"The victory is very important for me and for Ireland."

Irish President Michael D Higgins said: "I offer my congratulations to Rob Heffernan on his outstanding success in winning the World Championships 50km race walk in Moscow.

"All of us will share in this wonderful moment for Rob and his family.

"Rob came so close to success in the London Olympics and now, through hard work and dedication, he has achieved all that he deserves.

"My best wishes to all of the Irish team in Moscow, they will be uplifted by Rob's great win."


Heffernan had been red-carded twice en route and had to cover the final five kilometres knowing that one more slip would mean disqualification.

"It was not until I got into the stadium that I could relax and enjoy it," he said.

"I was fourth in London last year but this year I was not injured and in even better condition.

"I was very well prepared and knew I could do better today.

"I believed I could be the winner.

"The last 10km are like a crucifixion, so all you can do is prepare mentally."

Heffernan, who becomes the first Irish male to win a world title since Eamonn Coghlan took 5,000 metres gold at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, always looked like he meant serious business as he took his position in a leading group which had trimmed to three by the 40km mark before moving clear with a kilometres remaining to finish in 3 hours 37min 56sec - the best time recorded this year.

Ryzhov clocked a personal best of 3:38:58 for silver, and Jared Tallent of Australia took bronze in 3:40:03, although he was not entirely satisfied with his effort.

"I was definitely pushing for more," he said.

"It is my fifth medal in a major championships and still no gold.

"Now I am definitely going to push on to Beijing [2015 World Championships] and Rio [2016 Olympics]."

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