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Race walking at the Summer Olympics

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Racewalking
at the Olympic Games
The 2004 Olympic men's 20 km walk final
Overview
SportAthletics
GenderMen and women
Years heldMen 20 km: 19562024
Men 50 km: 19322020
Women 20 km: 20002024
Mixed Marathon Relay: 2024
Olympic record
Men20 km 1:18:46 Chen Ding (2012)
50 km 3:36:53 Jared Tallent (2012)
Women20 km 1:25:16 Qieyang Shenjie (2012)
MixedMarathon Relay 2:50:31 Álvaro Martín & María Pérez (2024)
Reigning champion
Men20 km  Brian Pintado (ECU)
Women20 km  Yang Jiayu (CHN)
MixedMarathon Relay  Álvaro Martín & María Pérez (ESP)

Racewalking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres race walk, and a men's 50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.

The first men's events came at the 1908 London Olympics, which featured 3500 m and 10-mile distances. A 10-Kilometer version was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics and it continued until 1952 (skipping three editions from 1928 to 1936). There was also a one-off 3000 m walk at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. The men's 20 km walk became the standard short distance for men in 1956 and has continued since then. The longer men's event over 50 km was first held at the 1932 Summer Olympics and was held continuously until the 2020 Olympics, except for a brief drop from the program in 1976 – the World Athletics held a World Championship for the event in protest and it was restored.

The first women's event was introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 84 years after the first men's race. Held over 10 km for the first two editions, the women's event was extended to match the men's 20 km distance from the 2000 Sydney Olympics onwards. Women have never commonly competed internationally over 50 km, thus it was never proposed as an Olympic event – it was the last on the Olympic athletics programme in which men competed, but women did not have an equivalent. The 50 km is also the longest distance race for an Olympic athletics event.[1] In April 2023, a new Marathon Race Walking Mixed Relay event was announced for the 2024 Games, replacing the men's 50 km event.[2]

The Olympic records in racewalking were all broken at the 2012 London Olympics. In the 20 km walk Chen Ding holds the men's record of 1:18:46 hours, while Elena Lashmanova held the women's mark of 1:25:02 hours until she was disqualified for doping in 2021. The men's 50 km record is 3:36:53 hours, set by Jared Tallent. Robert Korzeniowski is the most successful Olympic racewalker, having won the 50 km three times as well as the 20 km walk. Three other athletes have won four Olympic walk medals: Ugo Frigerio won three gold medals and a bronze in early competitions, Volodymyr Holubnychy won two 20 km walk titles as well as a silver and a bronze, and Jared Tallent won a gold medal in the 50 km along with two silver and a bronze.

The 1906 Intercalated Games, now not considered an official Olympic event, was the first venue for racewalking under the Olympic banner. Poor technique and judging significantly affected the 1500 m walk event, to the point where a rematch over 3000 m was added at short notice and judged by Constantine I of Greece.

Race walking has been particularly affected by doping, with many Russian world and Olympic champions testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs.[3][4]

Medal summary

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Men's 20 km walk

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1956 Melbourne
details
Leonid Spirin
 Soviet Union
Antanas Mikėnas
 Soviet Union
Bruno Junk
 Soviet Union
1960 Rome
details
Volodymyr Holubnychy
 Soviet Union
Noel Freeman
 Australia
Stan Vickers
 Great Britain
1964 Tokyo
details
Ken Matthews
 Great Britain
Dieter Lindner
 United Team of Germany
Volodymyr Holubnychy
 Soviet Union
1968 Mexico City
details
Volodymyr Holubnychy
 Soviet Union
José Pedraza
 Mexico
Nikolay Smaga
 Soviet Union
1972 Munich
details
Peter Frenkel
 East Germany
Volodymyr Holubnychy
 Soviet Union
Hans-Georg Reimann
 East Germany
1976 Montreal
details
Daniel Bautista
 Mexico
Hans-Georg Reimann
 East Germany
Peter Frenkel
 East Germany
1980 Moscow
details
Maurizio Damilano
 Italy
Pyotr Pochynchuk
 Soviet Union
Roland Wieser
 East Germany
1984 Los Angeles
details
Ernesto Canto
 Mexico
Raúl González
 Mexico
Maurizio Damilano
 Italy
1988 Seoul
details
Jozef Pribilinec
 Czechoslovakia
Ronald Weigel
 East Germany
Maurizio Damilano
 Italy
1992 Barcelona
details
Daniel Plaza
 Spain
Guillaume LeBlanc
 Canada
Giovanni De Benedictis
 Italy
1996 Atlanta
details
Jefferson Pérez
 Ecuador
Ilya Markov
 Russia
Bernardo Segura
 Mexico
2000 Sydney
details
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Noé Hernández
 Mexico
Vladimir Andreyev
 Russia
2004 Athens
details
Ivano Brugnetti
 Italy
Paquillo Fernández
 Spain
Nathan Deakes
 Australia
2008 Beijing
details
Valeriy Borchin
 Russia
Jefferson Pérez
 Ecuador
Jared Tallent
 Australia
2012 London
details
Chen Ding
 China
Érick Barrondo
 Guatemala
Wang Zhen
 China
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Wang Zhen
 China
Cai Zelin
 China
Dane Bird-Smith
 Australia
2020 Tokyo
details
Massimo Stano
 Italy
Koki Ikeda
 Japan
Toshikazu Yamanishi
 Japan
2024 Paris
details
Brian Pintado
 Ecuador
Caio Bonfim
 Brazil
Álvaro Martín
 Spain

Multiple medalists

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Volodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union (URS) 1960–1972 2 1 1 4
2 Jefferson Pérez  Ecuador (ECU) 1996–2008 1 1 0 2
3 Maurizio Damilano  Italy (ITA) 1980–1988 1 0 2 3
4 Peter Frenkel  East Germany (GDR) 1972–1976 1 0 1 2
Wang Zhen  China (CHN) 2012–2016 1 0 1 2
6 Hans-Georg Reimann  East Germany (GDR) 1972–1976 0 1 1 2

Medals by country

[edit]
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Soviet Union (URS) 3 3 3 9
2  Italy (ITA) 3 0 3 6
3  Mexico (MEX) 2 3 1 6
4  China (CHN) 2 1 1 4
5  Ecuador (ECU) 2 1 0 3
6  East Germany (GDR) 1 2 3 6
7  Russia (RUS) 2 1 0 3
8  Spain (ESP) 1 1 1 3
9  Great Britain (GBR) 1 0 1 2
10  Czechoslovakia (TCH) 1 0 0 1
 Poland (POL) 1 0 0 1
12  Australia (AUS) 0 1 3 4
13  Japan (JPN) 0 1 1 2
14  Canada (CAN) 0 1 0 1
 United Team of Germany (EUA) 0 1 0 1
 Guatemala (GUA) 0 1 0 1
 Brazil (BRA) 0 1 0 1

Women's 20 km walk

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
2000 Sydney
details
Wang Liping
 China
Kjersti Plätzer
 Norway
María Vasco
 Spain
2004 Athens
details
Athanasia Tsoumeleka
 Greece
Olimpiada Ivanova
 Russia
Jane Saville
 Australia
2008 Beijing
details
Olga Kaniskina
 Russia
Kjersti Tysse Plätzer
 Norway
Elisa Rigaudo
 Italy
2012 London
details
Qieyang Shenjie
 China
Liu Hong
 China
Lü Xiuzhi
 China
2016 Rio
details
Liu Hong
 China
María Guadalupe González
 Mexico
Lü Xiuzhi
 China
2020 Tokyo
details
Antonella Palmisano
 Italy
Sandra Arenas
 Colombia
Liu Hong
 China
2024 Paris
details
Yang Jiayu
 China
María Pérez
 Spain
Jemima Montag
 Australia


Multiple medalists

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Liu Hong  China (CHN) 2012–2020 1 1 1 3
2 Kjersti Plätzer  Norway (NOR) 2000–2008 0 2 0 2
3 Lü Xiuzhi  China (CHN) 2012–2016 0 0 2 2

Medals by country

[edit]
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  China (CHN) 4 1 3 8
2  Russia (RUS) 1 1 0 2
3  Italy (ITA) 1 0 1 2
4  Greece (GRE) 1 0 0 1
5  Norway (NOR) 0 2 0 2
6  Spain (ESP) 0 1 1 2
7  Mexico (MEX) 0 1 0 1
 Colombia (COL) 0 1 0 1
9  Australia (AUS) 0 0 2 2

Mixed Marathon Relay

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
2024 Paris
details
 Spain
Álvaro Martín
María Pérez
 Ecuador
Glenda Morejón
Brian Pintado
 Australia
Rhydian Cowley
Jemima Montag

Defunct distances

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Men's 3000 m walk

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1920 Antwerp
details
Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
George Parker
 Australia
Richard Remer
 United States

Men's 3500 m walk

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1908 London
details
George Larner
 Great Britain
Ernest Webb
 Great Britain
Harry Kerr
 Australasia

Men's 10 km

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1912 Stockholm
details
George Goulding
 Canada
Ernest Webb
 Great Britain
Fernando Altimani
 Italy
1920 Antwerp
details
Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
Joseph Pearman
 United States
Charles Gunn
 Great Britain
1924 Paris
details
Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
Gordon Goodwin
 Great Britain
Cecil McMaster
 South Africa
1928–1936 not included in the Olympic program
1948 London
details
John Mikaelsson
 Sweden
Ingemar Johansson
 Sweden
Fritz Schwab
 Switzerland
1952 Helsinki
details
John Mikaelsson
 Sweden
Fritz Schwab
 Switzerland
Bruno Junk
 Soviet Union

Men's 10 miles

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1908 London
details
George Larner
 Great Britain
Ernest Webb
 Great Britain
Edward Spencer
 Great Britain

Men's 50 km walk

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1932 Los Angeles
details
Tommy Green
 Great Britain
Jānis Daliņš
 Latvia
Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
1936 Berlin
details
Harold Whitlock
 Great Britain
Arthur Tell Schwab
 Switzerland
Adalberts Bubenko
 Latvia
1948 London
details
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
Gaston Godel
 Switzerland
Tebbs Lloyd Johnson
 Great Britain
1952 Helsinki
details
Pino Dordoni
 Italy
Josef Doležal
 Czechoslovakia
Antal Róka
 Hungary
1956 Melbourne
details
Norman Read
 New Zealand
Yevgeny Maskinskov
 Soviet Union
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
1960 Rome
details
Don Thompson
 Great Britain
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
Abdon Pamich
 Italy
1964 Tokyo
details
Abdon Pamich
 Italy
Paul Nihill
 Great Britain
Ingvar Pettersson
 Sweden
1968 Mexico City
details
Christoph Höhne
 East Germany
Antal Kiss
 Hungary
Larry Young
 United States
1972 Munich
details
Bernd Kannenberg
 West Germany
Veniamin Soldatenko
 Soviet Union
Larry Young
 United States
1976 Montreal not included in the Olympic program
1980 Moscow
details
Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany
Jordi Llopart
 Spain
Yevgeniy Ivchenko
 Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles
details
Raúl González
 Mexico
Bo Gustafsson
 Sweden
Sandro Bellucci
 Italy
1988 Seoul
details
Vyacheslav Ivanenko
 Soviet Union
Ronald Weigel
 East Germany
Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany
1992 Barcelona
details
Andrey Perlov
 Unified Team
Carlos Mercenario
 Mexico
Ronald Weigel
 Germany
1996 Atlanta
details
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Mikhail Shchennikov
 Russia
Valentí Massana
 Spain
2000 Sydney
details
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Aigars Fadejevs
 Latvia
Joel Sánchez
 Mexico
2004 Athens
details
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia
Aleksey Voyevodin
 Russia
2008 Beijing
details
Alex Schwazer
 Italy
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia
2012 London
details
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Si Tianfeng
 China
Robert Heffernan
 Ireland
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Matej Tóth
 Slovakia
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Hirooki Arai
 Japan
2020 Tokyo
details
Dawid Tomala
 Poland
Jonathan Hilbert
 Germany
Evan Dunfee
 Canada


Multiple medalists

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Robert Korzeniowski  Poland (POL) 1996–2004 3 0 0 3
2 Jared Tallent  Australia (AUS) 2008–2016 1 2 0 3
3 John Ljunggren  Sweden (SWE) 1948–1960 1 1 1 3
4 Abdon Pamich  Italy (ITA) 1960–1964 1 0 1 2
Hartwig Gauder  East Germany (GDR) 1980–1988 1 0 1 2
6 Ronald Weigel  East Germany (GDR)
 Germany (GER)
1988–1992 0 1 1 2
Denis Nizhegorodov  Russia (RUS) 2004–2008 0 1 1 2
8 Larry Young  United States (USA) 1968–1972 0 0 2 2

Medals by country

[edit]
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Poland (POL) 4 0 0 4
2  Great Britain (GBR) 3 1 1 5
3  Italy (ITA) 3 0 3 6
4  East Germany (GDR) 2 1 1 4
5  Sweden (SWE) 1 2 2 5
6  Soviet Union (URS) 1 2 1 4
7  Australia (AUS) 1 2 0 3
8  Mexico (MEX) 1 1 1 3
9  New Zealand (NZL) 1 0 0 1
 Slovakia (SVK) 1 0 0 1
 Unified Team (EUN) 1 0 0 1
 West Germany (FRG) 1 0 0 1
13  Russia (RUS) 0 2 2 4
14  Latvia (LAT) 0 2 1 3
15  Switzerland (SUI) 0 2 0 2
16  Hungary (HUN) 0 1 1 2
 Spain (ESP) 0 1 1 2
18  China (CHN) 0 1 0 1
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 0 1 0 1
20  United States (USA) 0 0 2 2
21  Germany (GER) 0 0 1 1
 Canada (CAN) 0 0 1 1
 Ireland (IRL) 0 0 1 1
 Japan (JPN) 0 0 1 1

Women's 10 km

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1992 Barcelona
details
Chen Yueling
 China
Yelena Nikolayeva
 Unified Team
Li Chunxiu
 China
1996 Atlanta
details
Yelena Nikolayeva
 Russia
Elisabetta Perrone
 Italy
Wang Yan
 China

Intercalated Games

[edit]

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.[5]

Two walking events were held on the track at the 1906 Games: a men's 1500 m walk and a men's 3000 m walk. The first final to be held was the shorter distance. American George Bonhag, an absolute walking novice who had competed in the 5-mile run, came away as the winner after Canada's Don Linden, the eventual runner-up, had given basic technical advice to allow him to compete.[6]

The 3000 m walk was held two days later as a last minute addition to the athletics programme, which was approved and also adjudicated by Constantine I of Greece after the dissatisfaction with the initial race. The entire walking field, minus Bonhag and Linden, was rearranged for the competition. Britain's Robert Wilkinson and Austria's Eugen Spiegler were again disqualified in the final stages for running, leaving Hungary's György Sztantics as the winner by a large margin.[7]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
1500 metres George Bonhag
 United States
Don Linden
 Canada
Konstantinos Spetsiotis
 Greece
3000 metres György Sztantics
 Hungary
Hermann Müller
 Germany
Georgios Saridakis
 Greece

References

[edit]
Participation and athlete data
Olympic record progressions
Specific
  1. ^ 50 Kilometres Race Walk. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  2. ^ "New Olympic marathon race walk mixed relay for Paris 2024 revealed". www.insidethegames.biz. 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  3. ^ Wilder, Charly (16 June 2015). "Where Racewalking is King, the Antidoping Officials Are Busy". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Banned Russian race walking coach still working with athletes, official says". Reuters. 24 January 2020.
  5. ^ 1906 Athina Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.
  6. ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres Walk. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  7. ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 3,000 metres Walk. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
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