| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
Representing  Sweden | ||
| European Championships | ||
 | 1986 Stuttgart | 10 km walk |
| World Race Walking Cup | ||
| 1981 Valencia | Team |
| 1979 Eschborn | Team |
Ann Jansson (born 1 July 1958) is a Swedish former racewalking athlete.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
| Representing Sweden | ||
| European Championships | ||
| 1986 Stuttgart | 10 km walk |
| World Race Walking Cup | ||
| 1981 Valencia | Team |
| 1979 Eschborn | Team |
Ann Jansson (born 1 July 1958) is a Swedish former racewalking athlete.
She represented her country at the World Championships in Athletics, IAAF World Indoor Championships and six times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup. She was a medallist at the European Athletics Championships in 1986.
She was a pioneer in the early period of international women's walking and broke several European records. Her 10 kilometres race walk time of 47:58.2 minutes in 1981 was the first ever ratified by the European Athletics Association and she improved this to 47:49.3 the following year, and twice more to 46:14.3 in 1985 and 46:13.2 in 1986. Her record was beaten that same year by Soviet walker Aleksandra Grigoryeva. Her 20 kilometres race walk time of 1:36:37 in 1985 was the best ever recorded by a European woman, though the woman's event was not an officially recognised one at that point. [1] In world rankings, she was the world's number one 10 km walker in 1981, having been the second best to Briton Carol Tyson a year earlier. [2]
In international competition, her greatest achievement was a silver medal in the 10 km walk at the 1986 European Athletics Championships, finishing behind Spain's Mari Cruz Díaz in the first ever women's European Championships event in walking. [3] The following year she took part in the first World Championships event and was eleventh in the women's 10 km walk. She was also a competitor in the first major women's indoor walking races, coming fifth at the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games, sixth at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships and seventh at the 1988 European Athletics Indoor Championships. [4] She raced at six consecutive edition of the IAAF World Race Walking Cup from 1979 to 1989, with her best finish being fifth in 1981. She was twice a team silver medallist with Sweden at that event. [5]
Jansson was a dominant figure at national level. At the Swedish Athletics Championships she was a twenty-time national champion. She won the 3000 m title from 1979 to 1986 (interrupted once by Britt Holmquist in 1980), won six 5000 m titles from 1980 to 1987 (losing twice to Siv Gustafsson) and won seven 10 km road titles from 1980 to 1987 (losing to Gustafsson in 1984). [6] At regional level, she was a five-time champion at the Nordic Race Walking Championships (three in 5 km, twice in 10 km). [7]
Jansson was twice winner at the prestigious annual Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni meet. [8]
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).
Ileana Salvador is a former Italian race walker who won eight medals at the World Championships and European Championships
Miguel Ángel Prieto Adanero is a race walker from Spain, who represented his native country at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, where he came tenth overall. He was a four-time Spanish indoor champion in the 5000 m walk and won the outdoor 20 km national title in 1990.
Mária Rosza-Urbanik is a retired race walker for Hungary who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. She married Sándor Urbanik, a fellow Hungarian race walker.
Annette Sergent is a French former long-distance runner. She represented her country three times at the Summer Olympics, but it was in cross country running that she had her greatest success. She became the first Frenchwoman to win a world title in the sport at the 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won for a second time in 1989. In addition to these victories, she made eleven appearances at the competition and placed third in both 1986 and 1988.
Deborah Dawn "Debbie" Scott-Bowker is a Canadian former middle- and long-distance runner. A three-time Olympian for Canada, she reached the 1500 m final in 1984, and both the 1500 m and 3000 m finals in 1988. She was also a three-time World Championship finalist, reaching the 1500 m and 3000 m finals in 1987, and the 1500 m final in 1991.
Siv Gustavsson 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.
Xu Yongjiu is a Chinese former racewalking athlete. She was Asia's first world champion in the sport.
Gabriela Sedláková is a former Czechoslovak track and field athlete who competed in the 800 metres. She was the silver medallist in that event at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Earlier she had been European junior champion and World junior runner-up.
Paul Donovan (athlete) (born 11 July 1963) is an Irish former long-distance runner. He was the silver medallist in the 3000 metres at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He was the number one ranked indoor runner that year. He represented Ireland at the Olympics twice: in 1984 and again in 1992.
Anatoliy Gorshkov is a Ukrainian former racewalking athlete who competed mainly in the 20 kilometres race walk event. His best result was a bronze medal at the 1987 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, where he achieved his lifetime best of 1:20:04 hours for the 20 km walk.
Guan Ping is a female Chinese former racewalking athlete who competed in the 10 kilometres race walk. She was the gold medallist at the 1986 Asian Games, becoming the first female racewalk champion at that competition and starting China's unbeaten dominance of the Asian Games women's racewalk which extends to today.
Sue Cook is an Australian former racewalking athlete. She is a former world record holder in the 10 kilometres race walk and the 20 kilometres race walk. She competed six times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, taking bronze in 1983, and was selected for Australia for the 1987 World Championships in Athletics.
Aleksandra Grigoryeva is a Russian former racewalking athlete. She was the gold medallist at the 1985 Summer Universiade, becoming the inaugural women's walk champion at the event. She represented the Soviet Union at the 1986 European Athletics Championships.
Margareta Simu is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She competed three times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was the winner in 1975 and bronze medallist in 1977. On her last appearance in 1979 she placed eighth.
Thorill Gylder is a Norwegian female former racewalking athlete and speaker. A member of Vansjø/Svinndal IL sports club, she competed from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. She competed three times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and after a fourth-place finish in 1975 she took the 5 km walk bronze medal in 1979.
Britt Holmquist is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She was twice a competitor at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was the bronze medallist in the first ever women's race in 1975. She was part of a Swedish medal sweep alongside Margareta Simu and Siv Gustavsson. While both Simu and Gustavsson returned to the podium at the 1977 edition, Holmquist fell back to fifth behind British opposition.
Valeriy Suntsov is a Russian former racewalking athlete who competed in the 50 kilometres race walk for the Soviet Union. He set his lifetime best of 3:42:37 hours for the event in 1985 in Saint Petersburg.
María Reyes Sobrino Jiménez is a Spanish former racewalking athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metres race walk and 10 kilometres race walk. Her greatest achievement was a gold medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1988. She was a five-time participant at the IAAF World Racewalking Cup and twice a World Championships in Athletics competitor.
Monica Gunnarsson is a Swedish female former racewalking athlete. She was a seven-time participant at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, racing at every edition from 1983 to 1995. Her best finish at the competition was 14th, achieved in 1991. She also represented her country at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, where she was sixth overall, and was eighth at the European Athletics Championships in 1986 and 1990. She was a bronze medallist at the 1987 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
