María Guadalupe González put in an excellent performance on home soil in Monterrey ©Getty Images

María Guadalupe González of host country Mexico put in an excellent performance to claim the gold medal in the women's 20 kilometre race at the International Association of Athletics Federations Race Walking Challenge in Monterrey.

Rio 2016 silver medallist González dominated the race from early on and moved clear from the rest of the field just six kilometres into a 2km loop course around Parque Fundidora.

Despite having to cope with the sweltering heat, González crossed the line in a course-record time of 1 hour 27min 4sec - the third-fastest time of her career.

Defending Monterrey champion Erica de Sena of Brazil finished second in 1:30.47, followed by Portugal's Inês Henriques who completed the course in 1:32.08.

In the men's 20km event, South Africa's Lebogang Shange became the first-ever African to win the Mexican leg of the Race Walking Challenge thanks to his time of 1:24.32.

Home athlete Carlos Sánchez was under half-a-minute behind in the silver medal position thanks to a time of 1:24.59, with Ecuador's Mauricio Arteaga crossing the line just 11 seconds later to clinch bronze.

Lebogang Shange secured Africa's first ever IAAF Race Walking Challenge Mexican leg title ©IAAF
Lebogang Shange secured Africa's first ever IAAF Race Walking Challenge Mexican leg title ©IAAF

The men's 50km title was taken by Andrés Chocho of Ecuador thanks to his time of 3:50:27.

Home athletes José Leyver Ojeda and Omar Zepeda completed the podium line-up with times of 3:53:37 and 3:57:31, respectively.

Erika Jazmine Morales gave the home fans something to cheer about in the women's 50km as she clinched the gold medal in a time of 4:32:53.

Erin Talcott collected United States' only medal of the day thanks to her silver medal-winning time of 4:54:39 whilst Mexico's Lizbeth Silva secured bronze in 4:58:41.

The next IAAF Race Walking Challenge event will take place in Rio Maior in Portugal on April 7.