Race walking at the Olympics

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

Race walking
at the Olympic Games
The 2004 Olympic men's 20 km walk final
Overview
SportAthletics
GenderMen and women
Years heldMen 20 km: 19562016
Men 50 km: 19322016
Women 20 km: 20002016
Olympic record
Men20 km 1:18:46 Chen Ding (2012)
50 km 3:36:53 Jared Tallent (2012)
Women20 km 1:25:02 Elena Lashmanova (2012)
Reigning champion
Men20 km  Wang Zhen (CHN)
50 km  Matej Tóth (SVK)
Women20 km  Liu Hong (CHN)

The first men's events came at the 1908 London Olympics, which featured 3500 m and 10-mile distances. A 10-kilometre version was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics and it continued until 1952 (skipping three editions from 1928–1936). 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 has been held continuously until the present day, except for a brief drop from the programme in 1976 – the IAAF 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 has never been proposed as an Olympic event – as of 2012 it remains the only event on the Olympic athletics programme in which men compete, but women do not have an equivalent. The 50 km is also the longest distance race for an Olympic athletics event.[1]

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 holds the women's mark of 1:25:02 hours. The men's 50 km record is 3:36:53 hours, set by Jared Tallent. Lashmanova's time was a world record – the first and so far only time a world record in racewalking has been set at an Olympic Games.[2] 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.

Medal summary

Men's 20 km walk

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

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Volodymyr Holubnychy Soviet Union (URS)1960–19722114
2Jefferson Pérez Ecuador (ECU)1996–20081102
3Maurizio Damilano Italy (ITA)1980–19881023
4Peter Frenkel East Germany (GDR)1972–19761012
Wang Zhen China (CHN)2012–20161012
6Hans-Georg Reimann East Germany (GDR)1972–19760112

Medals by country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Soviet Union (URS)3339
2 Mexico (MEX)2316
3 China (CHN)2114
4 Italy (ITA)2035
5 East Germany (GDR)1236
6 Russia (RUS)1113
7 Ecuador (ECU)1102
 Spain (ESP)1102
9 Great Britain (GBR)1012
10 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1001
 Poland (POL)1001
12 Australia (AUS)0134
13 Canada (CAN)0101
 United Team of Germany (EUA)0101
 Guatemala (GUA)0101

Men's 50 km walk

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1932 Los Angeles
Tommy Green
 Great Britain
Jānis Daliņš
 Latvia
Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
1936 Berlin
Harold Whitlock
 Great Britain
Arthur Tell Schwab
 Switzerland
Adalberts Bubenko
 Latvia
1948 London
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
Gaston Godel
 Switzerland
Tebbs Lloyd Johnson
 Great Britain
1952 Helsinki
Pino Dordoni
 Italy
Josef Doležal
 Czechoslovakia
Antal Róka
 Hungary
1956 Melbourne
Norman Read
 New Zealand
Yevgeniy Maskinskov
 Soviet Union
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
1960 Rome
Don Thompson
 Great Britain
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
Abdon Pamich
 Italy
1964 Tokyo
Abdon Pamich
 Italy
Paul Nihill
 Great Britain
Ingvar Pettersson
 Sweden
1968 Mexico City
Christoph Höhne
 East Germany
Antal Kiss
 Hungary
Larry Young
 United States
1972 Munich
Bernd Kannenberg
 West Germany
Veniamin Soldatenko
 Soviet Union
Larry Young
 United States
1976 Montrealnot included in the Olympic program
1980 Moscow
Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany
Jordi Llopart
 Spain
Yevgeniy Ivchenko
 Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles
Raúl González
 Mexico
Bo Gustafsson
 Sweden
Sandro Bellucci
 Italy
1988 Seoul
Vyacheslav Ivanenko
 Soviet Union
Ronald Weigel
 East Germany
Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany
1992 Barcelona
Andrey Perlov
 Unified Team
Carlos Mercenario
 Mexico
Ronald Weigel
 Germany
1996 Atlanta
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Mikhail Shchennikov
 Russia
Valentí Massana
 Spain
2000 Sydney
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Aigars Fadejevs
 Latvia
Joel Sánchez
 Mexico
2004 Athens
Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland
Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia
Aleksey Voyevodin
 Russia
2008 Beijing
Alex Schwazer
 Italy
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia
2012 London
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Si Tianfeng
 China
Robert Heffernan
 Ireland
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Matej Tóth
 Slovakia
Jared Tallent
 Australia
Hirooki Arai
 Japan

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Robert Korzeniowski Poland (POL)1996–20043003
2Jared Tallent Australia (AUS)2008–20161203
3John Ljunggren Sweden (SWE)1948–19601113
4Abdon Pamich Italy (ITA)1960–19641012
Hartwig Gauder East Germany (GDR)1980–19881012
6Ronald Weigel East Germany (GDR)
 Germany (GER)
1988–19920112
Denis Nizhegorodov Russia (RUS)2004–20080112
8Larry Young United States (USA)1968–19720022

Medals by country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Great Britain (GBR)3115
2 Italy (ITA)3036
3 Poland (POL)3003
4 East Germany (GDR)2114
5 Sweden (SWE)1225
6 Soviet Union (URS)1214
7 Australia (AUS)1203
8 Mexico (MEX)1113
9 New Zealand (NZL)1001
 Slovakia (SVK)1001
 Unified Team (EUN)1001
 West Germany (FRG)1001
13 Russia (RUS)0224
14 Latvia (LAT)0213
15 Switzerland (SUI)0202
16 Hungary (HUN)0112
 Spain (ESP)0112
18 China (CHN)0101
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)0101
20 United States (USA)0022
21 Germany (GER)0011
 Ireland (IRL)0011
 Japan (JPN)0011

Women's 20 km walk

Games Gold Silver Bronze
2000 Sydney
 Wang Liping (CHN)  Kjersti Plätzer (NOR)  María Vasco (ESP)
2004 Athens
 Athanasia Tsoumeleka (GRE)  Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)  Jane Saville (AUS)
2008 Beijing
 Olga Kaniskina (RUS)  Kjersti Tysse Plätzer (NOR)  Elisa Rigaudo (ITA)
2012 London
 Elena Lashmanova (RUS)  Qieyang Shenjie (CHN)  Liu Hong (CHN)
2016 Rio
 Liu Hong (CHN)  María Guadalupe González (MEX)  Lü Xiuzhi (CHN)

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Liu Hong China (CHN)2012–20161012
2Kjersti Plätzer Norway (NOR)2000–20080202

Medals by country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China (CHN)2125
2 Russia (RUS)2103
3 Greece (GRE)1001
4 Norway (NOR)0202
5 Mexico (MEX)0101
6 Australia (AUS)0011
 Italy (ITA)0011
 Spain (ESP)0011

Defunct distances

Men's 3000 m walk

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1920 Antwerp
 Ugo Frigerio (ITA)  George Parker (AUS)  Richard Remer (USA)

Men's 3500 m walk

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1908 London
 George Larner (GBR)  Ernest Webb (GBR)  Harry Kerr (ANZ)

Men's 10 km

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

Men's 10 miles

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1908 London
 George Larner (GBR)  Ernest Webb (GBR)  Edward Spencer (GBR)

Women's 10 km

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

Intercalated Games

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.[3]

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. Bonhag used a skipping technique that the judges, after Linden's protestations, later decided was against the rules. To decide the true victor, the judges reorganised a walk-off between the pair, but this did not occur and the results stood. A British and an Austrian were disqualified for running and James Connolly (the first Olympic champion) later stated he believed the head walk judge, James Edward Sullivan, also American, had effectively handed the race to Bonhag.[4]

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.[5]

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1906 Athens
 George Bonhag (USA)  Don Linden (CAN)  Konstantinos Spetsiotis (GRE)
1906 Athens
 György Sztantics (HUN)  Hermann Müller (GER)  Georgios Saridakis (GRE)

References

Participation and athlete data
Olympic record progressions
Specific
  1. 50 Kilometres Race Walk. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  2. Mulkeen, Jon (2012-08-11). Lashmanova sets 20km Race Walk World record in London!. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  3. 1906 Athina Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.
  4. Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres Walk. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  5. Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 3,000 metres Walk. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
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