| Racewalking at theOlympic 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 1:18:46Chen Ding (2012) 50 km 3:36:53Jared Tallent (2012) |
| Women | 20 km 1:25:16Qieyang Shenjie (2012) |
| Mixed | Marathon Relay 2:50:31Álvaro 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 theSummer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at themulti-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's20 kilometres race walk, and a men's50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
The first men's events came at the1908 London Olympics, which featured 3500 m and 10-mile distances. A 10-Kilometer version was introduced at the1912 Summer Olympics and it continued until1952 (skipping three editions from 1928 to 1936). There was also a one-off 3000 m walk at the1920 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 the1932 Summer Olympics and was held continuously until the 2020 Olympics, except for a brief drop from the program in 1976 – theWorld Athletics held aWorld Championship for the event in protest and it was restored.
The first women's event was introduced at the1992 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 the2000 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 newMarathon Race Walking Mixed Relay event was announced for the2024 Games, replacing the men's 50 km event.[2]
TheOlympic records in racewalking were all broken at the2012 London Olympics. In the 20 km walkChen Ding holds the men's record of 1:18:46 hours, whileElena 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 byJared 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, andJared Tallent won a gold medal in the 50 km along with two silver and a bronze.
The1906 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 byConstantine 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]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy | 10 | 1 | 8 | 19 |
| 2 | China | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| 3 |  Great Britain | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 4 |  Poland | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 |  Soviet Union | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 7 |  Mexico | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 |  East Germany | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 9 |  Sweden | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 10 |  Australia | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 11 | Spain | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 12 |  Switzerland | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 |  Czechoslovakia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 |  West Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 |  Latvia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 |  Unified Team | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 |  United States | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 21 |  Japan | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 22 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 23 |  United Team of Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Brazil | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Colombia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 27 |  Australasia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volodymyr Holubnychy | Soviet Union | 1960–1972 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Jefferson Pérez | Ecuador | 1996–2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Maurizio Damilano | Italy | 1980–1988 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Peter Frenkel | East Germany | 1972–1976 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Wang Zhen | China | 2012–2016 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 6 | Hans-Georg Reimann | East Germany | 1972–1976 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Mexico | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | China | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ecuador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | East Germany | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 |  Russia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Spain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 | Australia | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | Japan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 |  Canada | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| United Team of Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Brazil | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liu Hong | China | 2012–2020 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Kjersti Plätzer |  Norway | 2000–2008 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Lü Xiuzhi | China | 2012–2016 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Russia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Norway | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Mexico | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Colombia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Paris details | Spain Álvaro Martín María Pérez | Ecuador Glenda Morejón Brian Pintado | Australia Rhydian Cowley Jemima Montag |
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 Antwerp details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | George Parker Australia | Richard Remer United States |
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 London details | George Larner Great Britain | Ernest Webb Great Britain | Harry Kerr Australasia |
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 London details | George Larner Great Britain | Ernest Webb Great Britain | Edward Spencer Great Britain |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Korzeniowski | Poland | 1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Jared Tallent | Australia | 2008–2016 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | John Ljunggren | Sweden | 1948–1960 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Abdon Pamich | Italy | 1960–1964 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hartwig Gauder | East Germany | 1980–1988 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 6 | Ronald Weigel | East Germany Germany | 1988–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Denis Nizhegorodov | Russia | 2004–2008 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | Larry Young | United States | 1968–1972 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | East Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Soviet Union | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Australia | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Mexico | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Unified Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| West Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | Russia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 14 | Latvia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Switzerland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 |  Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Spain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 18 | China | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | United States | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 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 |
The1906 Intercalated Games were held inAthens and at the time were officially recognised as part of theOlympic 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 theInternational 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. AmericanGeorge Bonhag, an absolute walking novice who had competed in the 5-mile run, came away as the winner after Canada'sDon 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 byConstantine I of Greece after the dissatisfaction with the initial race. The entire walking field, minus Bonhag and Linden, was rearranged for the competition. Britain'sRobert Wilkinson and Austria'sEugen Spiegler were again disqualified in the final stages for running, leaving Hungary'sGyörgy 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 |
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