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.
Alex Schwazer, OMRI, is an Italian race walker. He was the 2008 Olympic 50k walk champion.
Marco De Luca is an Italian race walker. His best results at International level are 7th place at 2009 World Championships and 6th at 2006 European Championships and 2010 European Championships.
Colin Griffin is an Irish race walker who has competed in the Olympics.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Riseley is an Australian middle-distance athlete. Riseley competed in the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Caio Oliveira de Sena Bonfim is a Brazilian racewalker. In the 20 km walk, he was a bronze medalist at the 2017 World Championships and finished 4th at the 2016 Olympic Games. His mother, Gianetti Bonfim, was also an international racewalker for Brazil.
Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were postponed to 2021, with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August. The sport of athletics at these Games was split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, remaining in Tokyo, and road running events and racewalking events, moved to Sapporo. A total of 48 events were held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
Evan Dunfee is a Canadian race walker and Olympian. An Olympic and World medallist, Dunfee first set the Canadian record in the 50 kilometres race walk at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he placed fourth. He went on to win bronze medals at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics, both of those the last time the 50 km was to be featured as an event.
Érica Rocha de Sena is a female racewalker from Brazil. In the 20 km walk, she took 4th place at the 2017 World Championships, and 7th place at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the only Brazilian to win a medal at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships, after inheriting the 20 km race bronze in the 2016 race, held in Rome.
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.
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.
Brian Daniel Pintado Álvarez is a race walker from Ecuador. He competed in the Men's 20 km walk at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing in 37th place with a time of 1:23:44.
Wayne Snyman is a South African race walker. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's 20 km walk. He finished in 58th place with a time of 1:29:20. In 2019, he competed in the men's 20 kilometres walk at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He finished in 38th place.
Valentina Trapletti is a female racewalker from Italy, who participated at three World championships and won seven national titles. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 20 km walk.
Francesco Fortunato is an Italian male racewalker, which participated at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 20 km walk.
For the athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics competitions, the following qualification systems are in place. Qualification ended on 29 June 2021, but for marathon and 50 km race walking, it already ended on 31 May 2021. Some 1900 athletes, from 196 countries, will compete. 103 countries are qualified also through Universality places.
The team of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, which competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, represented athletes from both the Republic of Ireland and those from Northern Ireland who choose it instead of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the team's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having attended every edition since 1924 except the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany.
The men's 20 kilometres walk event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 August 2021 in Sapporo. Approximately 60 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. The reigning champion is Wang Zhen of China.
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.
Ireland 
