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.
Athletes from East Germany competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. 226 competitors, 186 men and 40 women, took part in 124 events in 18 sports. It was the first time that West Germany and East Germany had sent separate teams to the Summer Olympic Games.
Hungary competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. 167 competitors, 135 men and 32 women, took part in 116 events in 15 sports.
Vincent Paul Nihill MBE was a British race walker.
The Men's 20 km Race Walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR had an entry list of 34 competitors. Seven athletes were disqualified and two did not finish in the final, which was held on Thursday, 24 July 1980.
The Men's 20 km Race Walking event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Tuesday August 5, 2003. Ecuador's Jefferson Pérez regained the title he lost four years earlier to Bernardo Segura. The title defender from Mexico ended up in second place this time.
The Men's 50 km Race Walking event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place on July 28, 2007 in the Parque do Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro. Ecuador's Xavier Moreno captured the title, defeating the two Mexicans Horacio Nava and Omar Zepeda.
The 1st Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships was held in Maracaibo, Venezuela on 12–15 December 1974, one and a half year after having already hosted the 4th CAC senior championships in July 1973.
The 2nd Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships was held in Xalapa, Mexico, on 26–29 August 1976. The city was already the host of the inaugural CAC senior championships in May, 1967.
Cristian Andrés Chocho León is an Ecuadorian race walker who competes in both the 20 km and 50 km walk events. He is the South American record holder in the 50 km and 20,000 metres walking events.
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.
Isaac Antonio Palma Olivares is a Mexican racewalker. He has represented Mexico in multiple international competitions. He began to practice racewalking in 2005 in his hometown. In 2008, he joined the Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation as a sports prospectus and then entered the CNAR this year. In 2008 he competed for the first time internationally in the World Cup in Chevoksary Russia. He competed for Mexico in 20 kilometres walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In 2019, he won the 50 km race at the Pan American Race Walking Cup. In 2019, he competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He did not finish his race.
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.
Gennadiy Mikhailovich Agapov was a Soviet Russian race walker. Agapov held the unofficial world records in both the 20 km walk and the 50 km walk and placed second in the 50 km walk at the 1966 European Championships.
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.
Yang Jiayu is a Chinese race walker and Olympic champion. She specialises in the women's 10 kilometres and 20 kilometres race walk events, and she holds the world record in the latter. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Yang won gold in the 20 kilometres walk. She also won the 20 kilometre walk at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.
The East German Athletics Championships was an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the East German Athletics Federation, which served as the East German national championships for the sport. The three- or four-day event was held in summer months, varying from late June to early September, and the venue changed on an annual basis.
Eduard Ihorevych Zabuzhenko is a Ukrainian racewalker.
