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).
Yohann Diniz is a French race walker. He is the current world-record holder for the 50 km race, with a time of 3:32:33, and for the 50,000 metres track walk, with a time of 3:35:27.
Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin is a race walker from Russia who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was World champion over the 20 km distance. His World Championship was retroactively stripped in 2015 due to doping.
Bo Henning Gustafsson is a former Swedish athlete who mainly competed in the men's 50 kilometre walk during his career.
Vladimir Alekseevich Kanaykin is a Russian race walker.
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.
Liu Hong is a Chinese race walker. She is the world record holder over the Olympic 20km distance with a time of 1:24:38 hours, set in 2015.
Si Tianfeng is a Chinese race walker. He represented China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing 17th. He also competed in the 50 km walk at the 2009 Chinese National Games and won the bronze medal. Si set a Games record to take the gold medal in the 50 km walk at the 2010 Asian Games. He was fourth at the World Race Walking Cup that year.
Lars Tore Gustafsson is a retired male hammer thrower from Sweden, who competed at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. Since his retirement from competition, he has enjoyed success as a hammer coach
Ghana competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics from August 27 to September 4 in Daegu, South Korea.
The Men's 50 kilometres race walk event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held on September 3 on a loop course starting and finishing at Gukchae – bosang Memorial Park in the center of Daegu.
Ciarán Ó Lionáird is an Irish runner from Cork. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres. At the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships in March, he came 3rd in the Men's 3000 metres. Following the COVID-19 lockdown, he announced he was coming out of retirement, and his intention to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
Anežka Drahotová is a Czech athletics competitor in racewalking, middle-distance running, and steeplechase, as well an international-level cyclist. She is the Czech record holder for the 20 kilometres walk and the 10 km track walk.
Enrique Vera Ibáñez is a Mexican and Swedish former race walking athlete.
Viktor Mikhailovich Chegin is a banned Russian racewalking coach. He was responsible for training all three athletes who swept the medals at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics: Olga Kaniskina, Valeriy Borchin and Sergey Kirdyapkin. His athletes Elena Lashmanova and Sergey Kirdyapkin won gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics, with Kaniskina earning a silver medal. Former and banned world record holders Lashmanova, Denis Nizhegorodov and Sergey Morozov are all coached by Chegin.
Siv Gustavsson[nb] is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She was the gold medallist at the 1981 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, making her the second ever female world champion in the sport.
Andreas Enrique Anatole Vera Ibáñez is a male Swedish racewalker. He has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics on four occasions, from 2011 to 2017. He walked for Sweden at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships seven times consecutively from 2004 to 2016. He also competed at the European Athletics Championships in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Rhydian Cowley is an Australian race walker born in Glen Waverley, Victoria who specialises in the 50 kilometres race walk and 20 kilometres race walk. Cowley competed in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. For both of his major championship competitions, Cowley qualified in the 20 kilometres race walk. He has also competed at a Summer Universiade, five World Race Walking Cups, and a World Junior Championships. In 2021, he competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo where he finished in 8th in the men's 50 kilometres walk with a new personal best time of 3:52.01 just 113 seconds behind the eventual winner Dawid Tomala of Poland.
Bence Barnabás Venyercsán is a Hungarian race walker. He finished 45th in the 50 km event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and 20th in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Robyn Stevens is an American Olympic race walker. She competed for Vacaville High School, then went on to San José State University. Stevens suffered from an eating disorder and body dysmorphia while attending, which forced her to quit racing in 2004. She did not compete again until 2014. She competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
