The men's 50 kilometres race walk at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held through the streets of Athens with the start and finish at the Athens Olympic Stadium on August 27.
Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
Jared Tallent is an Australian race walker and Olympic gold medallist in the 50 km walk from London in 2012. He is a four-time Olympic medallist, three-time World Championship medallist and holds the current Olympic record in the 50 km walk.
The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it.
The men's 50 kilometre walk at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics took place on August 21, 2009, on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The event started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate.
The 10 kilometres race walk, or 10-kilometer racewalk, is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it. 10 kilometers is 6.2 miles.
The Dudinská Päťdesiatka or Dudinská 50 is an annual racewalking competition held in March on the streets of Dudince, Slovakia. The primary focus of the competition is a men's 50 kilometres race walk, from which the event takes its name. There are also two 20 kilometres race walks, one for men and one for women, as well as a variety of shorter races for younger athletes.
The 5000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race and was part of the athletics programme for men at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. It is also an event in the World Masters Athletics Championships, and is a World record event.
The following table shows the world record progression in the women's 50 kilometres walk, as recognised by the IAAF.
Liang Rui is a female Chinese racewalking athlete who competes in the 20 kilometres and 50 kilometres race walk. She was the world record holder for the 50 km walk event and was a gold medalist at the 2018 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships. In 2019 her record was beaten by Hong Liu with a time of 3:59:15. In the same year, she finished outside the top ten in the IAAF Challenge races in Taicang and La Coruña, and was seventh in a national 50 km meeting.
Yohann Diniz 3:32:33 (2014)
Liu Hong 3:59:15 (2019)
Jared Tallent 3:36:53 (2012)
