Russian Valeriy Borchin got the men's 20km race walk gold medal at the Beijing Olympics here on Saturday.

His archrival Jefferson Perez won the first medal for Ecuador with only a slight disadvantage against Borchin.

Borchin clocked in 1 hour 19 minutes 1 second. World champion Perez finished in 1:19.15, followed by Jared Tallent of Australia, with a result of 1:19.42.

Chinese walker Wang Hao won his 19th birthday in the national stadium by finishing the fourth in the Olympic Games.

Athens Olympic silver medalist Francisco Fernandez of Spain finished the seventh and another Russian favorite Ilya Markov only 17th.

Russia's Valeriy Borchin celebrates after winning the men's 20km walk at the National stadium as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 16, 2008. Borchin took gold with Ecuador's Jefferson Perez in silver and Australia's Jared Tallent in bronze. [Agencies]