Race walking at the Summer Olympics

Racewalking competitions occurring during the Olympic Games

Racewalking
at the Olympic Games

The 2004 Olympic men's 20 km walk final

Overview
Sport| Athletics
Gender| Men and women
Years held| Men 20 km: 1956 – 2024
Men 50 km: 1932 – 2020
Women 20 km: 2000 – 2024
Mixed Marathon Relay: 2024
Olympic record
Men| 20 km 1:18:46 Chen Ding (2012)
50 km 3:36:53 Jared Tallent (2012)
Women| 20 km 1:25:16 Qieyang Shenjie (2012)
Mixed| Marathon Relay 2:50:31 Álvaro Martín & María Pérez (2024)
Reigning champion
Men| 20 km Brian Pintado (ECU)

Women| 20 km Yang Jiayu (CHN)
Mixed| Marathon 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

[edit]

### Men's 20 km walk

[edit]

Games  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

edit

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### 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

|
|
|

edit

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

* Athletics Men's 1,500 metres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 3,000 metres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 3,500 metres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 10 kilometres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 10 mile Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 20 kilometres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Men's 50 kilometres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Women's 10 kilometres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.
* Athletics Women's 20 kilometres Walk Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-19.

Olympic record progressions

* Mallon, Bill (2012). TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.

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.

## External links

[edit]

* IAAF 20 kilometres walk homepage
* IAAF 50 kilometres walk homepage
* Official Olympics website
* Olympic athletics records from Track & Field News

* v
* t
* e

10 and 20 kilometres race walk at the Olympic Games

Summary

Men's 10 km|

* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012

Men's 20 km|

* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Women's 10 km|

* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012

Women's 20 km|

* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Other distances: 1908: Men's 3500 m walk • 1908: Men's 10 miles walk • 1920: Men's 3000 m walk

* v
* t
* e

50 kilometres race walk at the Olympic Games

Summary

Men|

* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020

* v
* t
* e

Athletics at the Summer Olympics

Editions|

* 1896
* 1900
* 1904
* 1906 (Intercalated)
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Events|

| Track|

* 100 m
* 200 m
* 400 m
* 800 m
* 1500 m
* 5000 m
* 10,000 m
* 4 × 100 m relay
* 4 × 400 m relay
* Sprint hurdles
* 400 m hurdles
* Steeplechase

|

Field|

* Shot put
* Discus throw
* Hammer throw
* Javelin throw
* Pole vault
* High jump
* Long jump
* Triple jump

Others|

* Combined events
* Marathon
* Race walking

Defunct|

* Cross country
* Team races
* 60 metres
* Weight throw
* Wheelchair racing
* Professional events
* Handicap events

* List of medalists
* men
* women
* Records
* Venues
* Medal sweeps

OwO
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