Liu Hong became China's first gold medallist of the 2015 World Championships, edging out compatriot Lu Xiuzhi in the women's 20 kilometre walk.

The host nation had to wait until the seventh day of competition in Beijing to see a local claim gold, with Liu and Lu coming into the Bird's Nest together before the former claimed victory.

The Chinese pair were awarded the same time of one hour, 27 minutes and 45 seconds on Friday, while Ukraine's Lyudmyla Olyanovska (1:28:13) picked up bronze.

Friday also saw the start of the men's decathlon, with reigning Olympic and world champion Ashton Eaton of United States finishing the morning session in the lead with 2830 points.

Eaton won his 100 metres heat with the fastest time of the decathletes, stopping the clock at 10.23secs, while the 27-year-old also produced the best effort in the long jump with a mark of 7.88 metres.

Germany's Rico Freimuth (15.50m) won the shot put in the decathlon to finish the session in third overall with 2730 points.

Damian Warner of Canada (2747) is second, while Netherlands' Eelco Sintnicolaas (2650) and Germany's Michael Schrader (2645) completed the top five.

In the men's high jump qualifying, 14 advanced to the final, with Australia's Brandon Starc notching a personal best of 2.31m to qualify automatically.

Defending champion Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine also qualified automatically, as did the other two medallists from Moscow - Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Derek Drouin.