“It was hard because the weather wasn't that good,” said Liu, who clocked one hour, 28 minutes and 35 seconds. “The only thing I could do was keep going, do my best and try to make it perfect.

“It means a lot to me. I have been doing this sport for more than 10 years now and at the last Olympics, I was fourth. This time I was doing my best to get a medal and I am pleased I could get the gold today.”

Liu’s victory took China’s gold tally for the Games to 22, one gold behind Great Britain while the United States led the way with 37.

Gonzalez – who replaced Liu as winner of the World Race Team Championships in Rome in May after the Chinese athlete’s positive test – timed 1:28:37 while another Chinese walker, Lu Xiuzhi, was third in 1:28:42.

Liu was handed a one-month ban after testing positive for “specified” substance higenamine. She lost the Rome title but was allowed to return to competition in Rio.

The world champion from 2015 was given a light ban, from June 13 to July 13, because the supplement higenamine – a beta-2-agonist on the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List – is “specified”.

China were able to keep the team title because they would have claimed the crown even without Liu’s effort.