Perez, the world record holder, was always in contact with the lead before making her decisive move at the 20km mark, finishing more than two minutes clear of the Peruvian who won this world double in Eugene last summer, Kimberly Garcia, as she clocked a Championship record of 2hour 28min 40sec.

Garcia clocked 2:40:52, with Greece’s Antigoni Ntrismpioti claiming bronze in 2:43:22, one place ahead of Viviane Lyra, who set a Brazilian record of 2:44:40.

Martin had remained calm and collected in a race that featured a spectacular mid-race burst from France’s Aurelien Quinion, 14^th in this event at last year’s World Championships in Eugene, whose lead stretched to 37 seconds at the 23km point.

For a while it seemed as if he was about to deliver a badly-needed first medal for France with less than a year to go until the Paris 2024 Olympics, perhaps even a golden one.

But Quinion was reeled back in over the closing stages, eventually being disqualified for lifting.

For the 29-year-old Spaniard, who missed a 20km medal by one place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, victory on the opening day of this year's World Athletics Championships over the shorter distance was his first global success following European 20km wins in 2018 and 2022.

Delivery of the second was confirmed in the final kilometre as he moved decisively past Ecuador’s Brian Pintado to establish a clear lead, finishing in a national record of 2:24.30.

"I am so tired," said Martin.

"I was fourth in the Olympic Games and it was very tough to get so close to an Olympic medal, so it's wonderful now to be a double world champion in Budapest.

"I see Maria is first too in the women's race, so today is a great day for Spain."

Perez revealed afterwards that a hamstring injury had caused her to doubt whether she could contest her second race here.

"I never could have thought it was possible to win two golds," said Perez. "It was just too hard. But the hard work and pain paid off.

"I had this problem with my hamstring after the 20km race and I was still considering whether to start at the 35km but I managed to get through.

"I felt confident about my technique today and wanted to maintain a normal rhythm throughout the race and not to damage my hamstring any more, so I really did the last 4-5km easy.

"This is a huge achievement not only for me but for the whole Spanish team. I want to enjoy this moment.

"I could hear the people around the course screaming my name, cheering for me. That helped me too, especially towards the end.

"The special part of this event was racing together with men. The race walk deserves to have the longer distances. This is a great demonstration for everybody - for the fans, too, the course was full of fans - that in the future we can have at long distances, not just the short ones."

Pintado, clearly struggling with the intense conditions in an event that had begun at 7am CEST to mitigate the effects of the high temperatures, held on to take silver in a South American record of 2:24.34.

Bronze went to Japan’s Masatora Kawano, silver medallist in this event at last year’s World Championships, who finished in 2:25.12 after managing to keep at bay the challenge of Canada’s Evan Dunfee, bronze medallist at Tokyo 2020 in the last ever Olympic men’s 50km race walk, who placed fourth - just as he had in the 20km race - in 2:25.28.

Under pressure, Quinion had began to accrue red cards for lifting, and his challenge effectively ended shortly after his lead had been reduced to nine seconds at the 29km mark as he received a third red card meaning he had to sit out of the race for a five-minute penalty.

Upon resumption, a fourth red card triggered his disqualification - something he also experienced at last year’s European Championships in Munich.

France are going to have to look elsewhere for a first World Athletics Championships medal - and the rumour is that their talisman world decathlon champion Kevin Mayer has a serious Achilles problem.

"In the last kilometre I had to push hard because I was so tired and Pintado was so close," Martin added. "It was a tougher race today than Saturday and this medal was more difficult to win. But in the end it is an amazing day for Spanish sport because we made history with four gold medals.

"It is a great day for my nation and a great day for my career. Right now I am flying, I am in the clouds. 

"After being fourth in Tokyo I kept training, and now I am sky-high. I only want to enjoy these amazing days. 

"Of course, the Olympics is the ultimate goal because it is the pinnacle of a career. So I am going to train hard, and fight for it, and dream of it. But now I want to enjoy this historic day."

Dunfee, 32, added: "I felt pretty good after the 20km but I am getting older! My hamstring was really bugging me today and my physio did an amazing job to get it as good as we could. 

"It felt good for most of the race then at 32k it just went pop. I thought I was done. I didn't even know if I was going to finish. Somehow it calmed down enough to let me finish, but I couldn't make it back up.

"To finish fourth again is absolutely heartbreaking. In the 20km it was breakthrough race. I was disappointed with my position but proud of how I raced. This one, I wanted to go medal or broke. And I guess I broke."