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).
Competitors at the Olympic Games have used banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs.
Olive Loughnane is an Irish retired racewalker. A four-times Olympian, she is the 2009 world gold medalist in the 20 km walk.
Guatemala competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. In what was the country's fourteenth Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. A total of twelve athletes competed in nine sports and twelve distinct events. It was the lowest number of participants for Guatemala since the 1980 Games in Moscow, USSR. Three of the twelve athletes were taking part in their second Olympics, and one of them, race walker Luis García, participated in his fourth. In any event that involved a progression through rounds, the Guatemalan athletes did not advance past the first round; as of the Beijing Olympics, there had yet to be a Guatemalan medalist. At the opening ceremony, badminton player Kevin Cordón bore Guatemala's flag.
Belize competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from 8 to 24 August 2008. Its participation in Beijing marked its eighth Olympic appearance under the name "Belize" and its tenth overall, as its first two appearances were under the name "British Honduras". The Belizean delegation in 2008 included four athletes: three participated in track and field events and one in taekwondo. Belize did not medal in Beijing, and had not medaled before Beijing, but Jonathan Williams became the first Belizean athlete to advance past the first round of any Olympic event.
The athletics competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held during the last 10 days of the Games, on 3–12 August. Track and field events took place at the Olympic Stadium in east London. The road events, however, started and finished on The Mall in central London.
The women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held on 11 August on a route along The Mall and Constitution Hill.
Jamy Amarilis Franco Núñez is a Guatemalan race walker. Cuban coach Rigoberto Medina has worked with her since 2010.
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 Olympic medal in Guatemala's history.
Eilish McColgan is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres champion with the Games record, and 5000 metres silver medallist. McColgan is a four-time European Championships medallist, winning silver medals for the 5000 m in 2018 and 10,000 m in 2022, bronze in the 5000 m in 2022, and a bronze for the indoor 3000 metres in 2017. She is the European record holder for the 10 km road race, and the British record holder for the 5000 m, 10,000 m, 5 km and half marathon. She also holds the European best in the 10 miles on the roads.
Kathryn Mitchell is an Australian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She has represented her country at three Olympic Games, finishing ninth in 2012 and sixth in 2016. She won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 68.92 m, a Commonwealth Games, Australian and Oceanian record. It also ranks her ninth on the world all-time list.
Melissa Tapper is an Australian table tennis player. After competing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she represented Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in elite non-Paralympic competition. In March 2016, she became the first Australian athlete to qualify for both the Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics.
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 20 km.
Juan Ignacio Maegli Agüero is a Guatemalan sailor who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the Laser class event where he finished 33rd and 9th respectively. He was the flag bearer for Guatemala during the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
Evelyn Rosmeri Núñez Fuentes is a female Guatemalan race walker. In 2006, she set a personal best time of 46:19.48 by winning the silver medal at the Ibero-American Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is also the mother of Jamy Franco, who ended the nation's 56-year drought by taking the race walk title at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Guatemala competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015.
Morgan Mitchell is an Australian athlete who specialized in the 400 metres and now competes in the 800 metres.
José Ramos is a judoka from Guatemala. He represented his country Guatemala at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 60 kg event, losing to Tsend-Ochiryn Tsogtbaatar of Mongolia by ippon in the first round.
Guatemala sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's seventh time competing in the Summer Paralympic Games since it made its debut forty years prior in Toronto, Canada. Middle-distance runner Óscar Raxón Siquiej was the only athlete that Guatemala sent to Rio de Janeiro after he was awarded a wild card spot by the International Paralympic Committee. He was third and last in his heat in the men's 1500 metres T11 and failed to advance to the final since only the top six were allowed in that stage of the competition.
Jemima Montag is an Australian Olympic racewalker. She won the silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, won bronze medals in the 20 km walk and the Marathon walk relay in the Paris 2024 Olympics, and is a two-time Commonwealth Games champion.
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