| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | April 17, 1992 Boothbay, Maine, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Education | Goucher College (B.A.) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Racewalking | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 50km Race Walk | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Matthew Forgues (born April 17, 1992) is an American racewalker. Forgues earned gold for the 50 kilometres race walk at the 2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Forgues was runner up in the 50 km walk at the 2020 United States Olympic Trials in Santee, California in a time of 4:14:42. [1]
Forgues was born on April 17, 1992, in from Boothbay, Maine, to Linda and Michael Forgues. He began racewalking at seven years old. His older sister Lauren is also a racewalker. [2]
Forgues attended Boothbay Region High School. [3] He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Goucher College in 2014. [3] While at Goucher, Forgues studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, where he ran in the Santiago Marathon. [4]
In 2010, Forgues earned a spot on the U.S. junior national racewalk team. [5] In 2011, Forgues came in fourth in NAIA's 5,000-meter championships. [2] He placed fifth in the 50 kilometer race walk at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At the 2016 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he placed fourth. He earned third at the same event in 2017. In September 2017, Forgues won the 40 kilometer racewalk at the National Championships. Forgues earned silver for the 50 kilometres race walk at the 2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In an international competition in Monterrey, Mexico, he came in 8th place. In January 2019, Forgues won his first 50km National title at the 2019 USA 50km Race Walk Championships. Forgues is currently training for the 2020 Summer Olympics. [3]
After college graduation, Forgues taught at Standing Rock Indian Reservation where he resumed racewalking. He is a full-time educator at Whole Foods Market in San Diego. [3]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing the United States | |||||
| 2008 | World Championships | Cheboksary, Russia | 51st | 10 km | 47:46 |
| 2009 | Pan Am Cup | San Salvador, El Salvador | 13th | 10 km | 50:10 |
| 2009 | Pan Am Junior Championships | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | 9th | 10 km | 48:42 |
| 2016 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 97th | 20 km | 1:35:42 |
| 2017 | US National Championships | Santee, United States | 3rd | 50 km | 4:31:40 |
| 2017 | Pan Am Cup | Lima, Peru | 11th | 50 km | 4:29:14 |
| 2018 | World Team Championships | Taicang, China | 46th | 50 km | 4:18:17 |
| 2018 | US National Championships | Santee, United States | 2nd | 50 km | 4:23:28 |
| 2019 | Pan Am Cup | Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico | 12th | 50 km | 4:15:22 |
| 2019 | US National Championships | Santee, United States | 1st | 50 km | 4:27:28 |
| 2019 | Pan Am Games | Lima, Peru | 5th | 50 km | 4:19:28 |
| 2020 | US Olympic Trials | Santee, United States | 2nd | 50 km | 4:14:42 |
Forgues ran a marathon in New York. He is gay and married to Manuel Martinez. [6] He is lactose intolerant. [3]
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).
Donald James Thompson MBE was an English racewalker. He was the only British man to win a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, in the 50 km walk. He also won a bronze medal at the 1962 European Championships, also for the 50 km walk.
Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth.
Kara Goucher is an American long-distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third the following year at the Boston Marathon.
Helmut ("Henry") Laskau has been called the greatest racewalker in U.S. track and field history. Born in Berlin, Germany Laskau was a top distance runner in his native Germany, before being forced to leave that country by the Nazis in 1938 due to his Jewish heritage. He moved to the United States and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, before resuming his competitive walking career in 1946.
John Hamilton Nunn is an American race walker. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing in 26th place in the men's 20 km event. On January 22, 2012, he qualified to represent the U.S. in the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 50km racewalk. In the Olympics, Nunn finished in 42nd place in a personal best time of 4:03:28.
The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it.
Érick Bernabé Barrondo García is a Guatemalan racewalker who competes in the 20 km walk and 50 km walk events. He won the silver medal at the Men's 20 km Racewalk in the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first and only Olympic medal in Guatemala's history.
Maria Michta-Coffey is an American race walker. She is a two-time Olympian, having competed for the US at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the 20-kilometer event. Michta-Coffey is the American record-holder at three racewalking distances: 5, 15, and 20km.
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.
Kevin Eastler is an American race walker. He is a four-time U.S. 20-km race walking champion, a 2007 U.S. 50-km race walking champion, and a 30-km record holder at the 2006 U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Eastler is also a captain of the United States Air Force, and is assigned to the 566th Intelligence Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.
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.
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.
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.
Yu Wei is a male Chinese racewalker.
Sandeep Kumar is an Indian racewalker. He competed in the 50 kilometres walk event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China.
Nicholas Steven "Nick" Christie is an American racewalker. Christie is a multiple time National Champion at the NAIA level and has been the US National Champion for the indoor 3000m Racewalk. He has competed internationally for the US many times since 2012 and at the national level many times as well. As of 2013 he is one of the many rising stars that the sport has in the United States as it gains popularity in the nation. He is also the current national record holder for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in the Indoor 3000m racewalk with a time of 11:46.20.
Katie Burnett is an American racewalker.
Bruce Duncan MacDonald was an American racewalker. He competed at the 1956, 1960 and the 1964 Summer Olympics. He competed in his first Olympics at the age of 29. He worked four additional Olympics, two in the capacity of team manager and two more as an official.
Gurpreet Singh is an Indian racewalker. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after winning the Indian 50km racewalking championship with a time of 3:59:42. He competed in the 50km racewalking event in the Tokyo Olympics, but failed to finish due to cramps, withdrawing after 35km.
