Eider Arévalo continued his World Championship gold medal winning form ©Getty Images

Colombia's Eider Arévalo and China's Qieyang Shenjie each lived up to their respective favourites tags by winning International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Race Walking Challenge races in Spanish city La Coruña today.

Arévalo, the reigning 20 kilometres world champion, was expected to be embroiled in a two-horse race over the same distance with Spain's home hope Álvaro Martín.

Martín repeatedly attacked at the head of a strong field but was unable respond when fellow countryman Diego Garcia launched a decisive late move.

Arévalo accelerated again in the final stages to cross first in 1 hour 19min 04sec.

García finished four seconds behind in second and there was bronze for Akihiro Noda of Japan in 1:19:49.

Martín eventually crossed sixth in 1:20:46.

Qieyang Shenjie, pictured racing in 2016, was the pre-race favourite for gold in the women's race ©Getty Images
Qieyang Shenjie, pictured racing in 2016, was the pre-race favourite for gold in the women's race ©Getty Images

Qiyang enjoyed a more dominant victory in the corresponding women's race in 1:26:28.

Julia Takacs took a home silver in 1:27:58 while Ana Cabecinha of Portugal clinched a distant bronze in 1:29.41.

Cabecinha's team-mate  Inés Henriques, the world champion over 50km, finished fifth over the shorter distance in 1:30:34.