The World Athletics Championships are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics. Alongside the Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championships.
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).
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.
The men's 50 kilometres walk was the longer of the two men's race walking events on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo, as well as the longest event on the program. It was held on 18 October 1964. 39 athletes from 20 nations entered, with 34 starting and 31 finishing.
France competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, and failed to win a single gold medal for the second time only in the history of the modern Olympic Games. 238 competitors, 210 men and 28 women, took part in 120 events in 19 sports.
The Men's 50 km Race Walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR had an entry list of 27 competitors. Three athletes were disqualified and nine of them did not finish in the final, held on 30 July 1980. This event was not conducted in 1976, it was last held in 1972.
The final of the Men's 50 km Race Walking event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Friday August 8, 2003. Only five men finished the race.
Miloš Holuša is a Czech race walker who specialized in the 50 kilometres walk. He competed in every World Championship between 1993 and 2005, and also three Olympic Games.
The men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 5. The final was won by Harold Whitlock of Great Britain.
The men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games took place August 3. The final was won by Tommy Green of Great Britain.
The men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games took place July 31. The final was won by Swede John Ljunggren.
The men's 20 kilometres walk race walk event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place on September 2. The event was held in a final only format.
These are the official results of the Men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, held on 3 September. This distance was not conducted in 1976, but returned in 1980. There were no heats with this event, it was held as a finals only event.
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.
The men's 50 kilometres race walk at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico was held on October 17. It was won by Christoph Höhne of East Germany.
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.
Hagen Pohle is a German racewalker. He competed in the 20 kilometres walk event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 20 km walk event where he finished in 18th place and the 50 km walk event where he did not finish. In 2019, he competed in the men's 20 kilometres walk at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He finished in 17th place.
Yu Wei is a male Chinese racewalker.
Teodorico Caporaso is a male Italian racewalker who won four international medals at senior level at the race walk competitions. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 50 km walk.
The men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August 2021 in Sapporo. 59 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the number qualifying through time.
