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).
Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and race walking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions but it was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Volodymyr Stepanovych Holubnychy was a Soviet and Ukrainian race walker, who competed for the Soviet Union. He dominated the 20 kilometre race walk in the 1960s and 1970s, winning four Olympic medals from 1960 to 1972 and finishing seventh in 1976. He became Olympic champion in 1960 and 1968. He is regarded as one of the greatest race walkers of all time and competed at the Olympics on five occasions in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976.
Canada competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden. 92 competitors, 77 men and 15 women, took part in 81 events in 14 sports.
Sweden competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations. Instead, those events were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden.
India competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 59 competitors, 58 men and 1 woman, took part in 32 events in 8 sports. Their solitary medal, a gold, came in men's field hockey.
The Soviet Union (USSR) competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 272 competitors, 233 men and 39 women, took part in 135 events in 17 sports.
Giuseppe "Pino" Dordoni was an Italian athlete who competed mainly in the 50 kilometre race walk.
Yevgeny Ivanovich Maskinskov was a Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the 50 kilometre walk. He trained at the Armed Forces sports society in Saransk.
Matej Tóth is a Slovak race walker. He is a former Olympic champion in the 50 km walk.
The men's individual road race at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, was held on Friday 7 December 1956. There were 88 participants from 28 nations. Of the 88 starters 44 rode the distance to the end. The event was won by Ercole Baldini of Italy, the nation's first medal in the men's individual road race. Arnaud Geyre took silver, France's first medal since back-to-back golds in 1936 and 1948. Alan Jackson's bronze was Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1896.
The men's 20 kilometres walk was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. There were a total number of 21 participants from 10 nations.
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.
Roland Hardy was a British racewalker who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was born in Sheepbridge, Derbyshire. Hardy was a five-time national champion in the 7 miles walk and a two-time national champion in the 2 miles walk.
Quentin Rew is a race walker from New Zealand. At the 2011 World Athletics Championships Rew finished 24th in the 50 kilometres race walk. He represented New Zealand in the 50 km race walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics, originally finishing 30th. With the subsequent ban for a doping offence of Igor Yerokhin Rew's placing would be raised to 29th. At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics Rew finished 10th in the 50 kilometres walk in 3:48:48. At the XXI Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Rew finished 5th in the Men's 20 kilometres walk, with a time of 1:21:47. In 2021, Rew finished 16th in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a time of 3:57:33.
Race walking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres walk, and a men's 50 kilometres walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
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.
Eric William Hall was a British racewalker. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics, and was a member of the Belgrave Harriers.
Adolf Weinacker was an American racewalker. He competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 1948, 1952 and the 1956 Summer Olympics. He died on September 11, 2023, at the age of 94.
Leo Allan Sjogren was an American racewalker. He competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1956 Summer Olympics.
