Race walking at the Olympics

Race walking
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: 19562016
Men 50 km: 19322016
Women 20 km: 20002016
Olympic record
Men 20 km 1:18:46 Chen Ding (2012)
50 km 3:35:59 Sergey Kirdyapkin (2012)
Women 20 km 1:25:02 Jessica Stahl (2012)
Reigning champion
Men 20 km  Chen Ding (CHN)
50 km  Sergey Kirdyapkin (RUS)
Women 20 km  Elena Lashmanova (RUS)

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.

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 3:35:59 hours, set by Sergey Kirdyapkin. 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. Two other athletes have won four Olympic walk medals: Ugo Frigerio won three gold medals and a bronze in early competitions, while Volodymyr Holubnychy won two 20 km walk titles as well as a silver and 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 (URS)  Antanas Mikėnas (URS)  Bruno Junk (URS)
1960 Rome
 Volodymyr Holubnychy (URS)  Noel Freeman (AUS)  Stan Vickers (GBR)
1964 Tokyo
 Ken Matthews (GBR)  Dieter Lindner (EUA)  Volodymyr Holubnychy (URS)
1968 Mexico City
 Volodymyr Holubnychy (URS)  José Pedraza (MEX)  Nikolay Smaga (URS)
1972 Munich
 Peter Frenkel (GDR)  Volodymyr Holubnychy (URS)  Hans-Georg Reimann (GDR)
1976 Montreal
 Daniel Bautista (MEX)  Hans-Georg Reimann (GDR)  Peter Frenkel (GDR)
1980 Moscow
 Maurizio Damilano (ITA)  Pyotr Pochenchuk (URS)  Roland Wieser (GDR)
1984 Los Angeles
 Ernesto Canto (MEX)  Raúl González (MEX)  Maurizio Damilano (ITA)
1988 Seoul
 Jozef Pribilinec (TCH)  Ronald Weigel (GDR)  Maurizio Damilano (ITA)
1992 Barcelona
 Daniel Plaza (ESP)  Guillaume LeBlanc (CAN)  Giovanni De Benedictis (ITA)
1996 Atlanta
 Jefferson Pérez (ECU)  Ilya Markov (RUS)  Bernardo Segura (MEX)
2000 Sydney
 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Noé Hernández (MEX)  Vladimir Andreyev (RUS)
2004 Athens
 Ivano Brugnetti (ITA)  Paquillo Fernández (ESP)  Nathan Deakes (AUS)
2008 Beijing
 Valeriy Borchin (RUS)  Jefferson Pérez (ECU)  Jared Tallent (AUS)
2012 London
 Chen Ding (CHN)  Erick Barrondo (GUA)  Wang Zhen (CHN)
2016 Rio de Janeiro
 Wang Zhen (CHN)  Cai Zelin (CHN)  Dane Bird-Smith (AUS)

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Holubnychy, VolodymyrVolodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union (URS) 1960–1972 2 1 1 4
2 Pérez, JeffersonJefferson Pérez  Ecuador (ECU) 1996–2008 1 1 0 2
3 Damilano, MaurizioMaurizio Damilano  Italy (ITA) 1980–1988 1 0 2 3
4 Frenkel, PeterPeter Frenkel  East Germany (GDR) 1972–1976 1 0 1 2
5 Reimann, Hans-GeorgHans-Georg Reimann  East Germany (GDR) 1972–1976 0 1 1 2

Medals by country

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

Men's 50 km walk

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1932 Los Angeles
 Tommy Green (GBR)  Jānis Daliņš (LAT)  Ugo Frigerio (ITA)
1936 Berlin
 Harold Whitlock (GBR)  Arthur Tell Schwab (SUI)  Adalberts Bubenko (LAT)
1948 London
 John Ljunggren (SWE)  Gaston Godel (SUI)  Tebbs Lloyd Johnson (GBR)
1952 Helsinki
 Giuseppe Dordoni (ITA)  Josef Doležal (TCH)  Antal Róka (HUN)
1956 Melbourne
 Norman Read (NZL)  Yevgeniy Maskinskov (URS)  John Ljunggren (SWE)
1960 Rome
 Don Thompson (GBR)  John Ljunggren (SWE)  Abdon Pamich (ITA)
1964 Tokyo
 Abdon Pamich (ITA)  Paul Nihill (GBR)  Ingvar Pettersson (SWE)
1968 Mexico City
 Christoph Höhne (GDR)  Antal Kiss (HUN)  Larry Young (USA)
1972 Munich
 Bernd Kannenberg (FRG)  Veniamin Soldatenko (URS)  Larry Young (USA)
1976 Montrealnot included in the Olympic program
1980 Moscow
 Hartwig Gauder (GDR)  Jordi Llopart (ESP)  Yevgeniy Ivchenko (URS)
1984 Los Angeles
 Raúl González (MEX)  Bo Gustafsson (SWE)  Sandro Bellucci (ITA)
1988 Seoul
 Vyacheslav Ivanenko (URS)  Ronald Weigel (GDR)  Hartwig Gauder (GDR)
1992 Barcelona
 Andrey Perlov (EUN)  Carlos Mercenario (MEX)  Ronald Weigel (GER)
1996 Atlanta
 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Mikhail Shchennikov (RUS)  Valentí Massana (ESP)
2000 Sydney
 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Aigars Fadejevs (LAT)  Joel Sánchez (MEX)
2004 Athens
 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Denis Nizhegorodov (RUS)  Aleksey Voyevodin (RUS)
2008 Beijing
 Alex Schwazer (ITA)  Jared Tallent (AUS)  Denis Nizhegorodov (RUS)
2012 London
 Jared Tallent (AUS)  Si Tianfeng (CHN)  Robert Heffernan (IRL)
2016 Rio de Janeiro
 Matej Tóth (SVK)  Jared Tallent (AUS)  Hirooki Arai (JPN)

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Korzeniowski, RobertRobert Korzeniowski  Poland (POL) 1996–2004 3 0 0 3
2 Tallent, JaredJared Tallent  Australia (AUS) 2008–2012 1 2 0 3
3 Ljunggren, JohnJohn Ljunggren  Sweden (SWE) 1948–1960 1 1 1 3
4= Pamich, AbdonAbdon Pamich  Italy (ITA) 1960–1964 1 0 1 2
4= Gauder, HartwigHartwig Gauder  East Germany (GDR) 1980–1988 1 0 1 2
6= Weigel, RonaldRonald Weigel  East Germany (GDR)/ Germany (GER) 1988–1992 0 1 1 2
6= Nizhegorodov, DenisDenis Nizhegorodov  Russia (RUS) 2004–2008 0 1 1 2
8 Young, LarryLarry Young  United States (USA) 1968–1972 0 0 2 2

Medals by country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Great Britain (GBR) 3 1 1 5
2  Italy (ITA) 3 0 3 6
3  Poland (POL) 3 0 0 3
4  East Germany (GDR) 2 1 1 4
5=  Russia (RUS) 1 2 2 5
5=  Sweden (SWE) 1 2 2 5
7  Soviet Union (URS) 1 2 1 4
8  Mexico (MEX) 1 1 1 3
9  Australia (AUS) 1 1 0 2
10=  Unified Team (EUN) 1 0 0 1
10=  New Zealand (NZL) 1 0 0 1
10=  West Germany (FRG) 1 0 0 1
13  Latvia (LAT) 0 2 1 3
14  Switzerland (SUI) 0 2 0 2
15=  Hungary (HUN) 0 1 1 2
15=  Spain (ESP) 0 1 1 2
17  United States (USA) 0 0 2 2
18  Czechoslovakia (TCH) 0 1 0 1
19=  China (CHN) 0 0 1 1
19=  Germany (GER) 0 0 1 1

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 Plätzer (NOR)  Elisa Rigaudo (ITA)
2012 London
 Elena Lashmanova (RUS)  Olga Kaniskina (RUS)  Qieyang Shenjie (CHN)
2016 Rio de Janeiro
 Liu Hong (CHN)  María Guadalupe González (MEX)  Lü Xiuzhi (CHN)

Multiple medalists

Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Kaniskina, OlgaOlga Kaniskina  Russia (RUS) 2008–2012 1 1 0 2
2 Plätzer, KjerstiKjersti Plätzer  Norway (NOR) 2000–2008 0 2 0 2

Medals by country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Russia (RUS) 2 2 0 4
2  China (CHN) 1 0 1 2
3  Greece (GRE) 1 0 0 1
4  Norway (NOR) 0 2 0 2
5=  Australia (AUS) 0 0 1 1
5=  Italy (ITA) 0 0 1 1
5=  Spain (ESP) 0 0 1 1

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 (CAN)  Ernest Webb (GBR)  Fernando Altimani (ITA)
1920 Antwerp
 Ugo Frigerio (ITA)  Joseph Pearman (USA)  Charles Gunn (GBR)
1924 Paris
 Ugo Frigerio (ITA)  Gordon Goodwin (GBR)  Cecil McMaster (RSA)
1928–1936not included in the Olympic program
1948 London
 John Mikaelsson (SWE)  Ingemar Johansson (SWE)  Fritz Schwab (SUI)
1952 Helsinki
 John Mikaelsson (SWE)  Fritz Schwab (SUI)  Bruno Junk (URS)

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 (CHN)  Yelena Nikolayeva (EUN)  Li Chunxiu (CHN)
1996 Atlanta
 Yelena Nikolayeva (RUS)  Elisabetta Perrone (ITA)  Wang Yan (CHN)

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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.