Russia's Stanislav Yemelyanov won gold in the Men's 20km Walk at the European Athletics Championships, which kicked off on Tuesday in Spain's Barcelona.

The 19-year-old athlete from Russia finished the distance in 1 hour 20.10 minutes which is 28 seconds ahead of Italy's Alex Schwazer. The bronze went to Joao Vieira of Portugal (1:20.49).

Yemelyanov said after the race that the distance was very difficult and he was afraid of slipping and falling.

"The track was slippery in some places, particularly before the second turn, where runners were taking an [improvised] shower, and I was really afraid of falling down at this turn and sometimes even held on to an advertising side barrier," he said.

On the whole, he admitted, he was very happy to win the gold medal at his first performance after youth competitions.

MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti)