Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking.
Racewalking, or race walking, 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. This is assessed by race judges. 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).
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. Women first entered the 1979 edition. It was formerly known as the Lugano Cup after the city that hosted the first event, then became the IAAF World Race Walking Cup until 2016 and than IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships until 2018. In 2004, a junior division was added, consisting of men and women aged under 20. Since 2008 it has been a constituent meeting of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge.
The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. 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.
The ninth edition of the European Race Walking Cup was held on the roads of Olhão, Portugal on 21 May 2011. The event was jointly organised by the Federação Portuguesa de Atletismo and the European Athletics Association. A total of 222 athletes from 26 countries participated in the competition.
The African Race Walking Championships was a quadrennial race walking competition for athletes representing countries from Africa, organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). It was established in 1999 and has featured races for senior men and women. The 2005 edition was held jointly with the African Combined Events Championships. The 2009 edition also featured junior events. The 2013 men's event was part of the IAAF World Race Walking Challenge.
Race walking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There are three race walking events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres walk, and a men's 50 kilometres walk. The races are held in a final-only format.
Marion Fawkes is a British former racewalker. She was the first official female world champion in racewalking through her victory at the 1979 IAAF World Race Walking Cup. She broke four world records in her career.
Siv Gustavsson is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She was the gold medallist at the 1981 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, making her the second ever female world champion in the sport.
The 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships was the 27th edition of the global team racewalking competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held in Rome, Italy from 7 to 8 May 2016. It was the first edition of the tournament under its new name, having previously been known as the IAAF World Race Walking Cup since 1989.
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.
Ann Jansson is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She represented her country at the World Championships in Athletics, IAAF World Indoor Championships and six times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup. She was a medallist at the European Athletics Championships in 1986.
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.
The USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, formerly known as the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships, is an annual outdoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field (USATF) which serves as the national championship for American athletes aged under 20. The competition is also used for American national team selection for the IAAF World U20 Championships in even-numbered years and the Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in odd-numbered years.
2019 Ukrainian Athletics Championships among the athletes of the senior age category was held from 21 to 23 August in Lutsk at Avanhard Stadium.
The Nordic Junior Combined Events Championships is an annual outdoor combined track and field events competition for athletes under-20 from the Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Athletes must be 19 years of age or younger by December 31 of the year the championship is held. Men compete in the decathlon and women compete in the heptathlon. In the early history of the competition, the women's pentathlon was held instead of heptathlon.
The Nordic–Baltic Under-23 Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor combined track and field events competition for athletes under-20 from the Nordic countries – and the Baltic states. It is typically held over two days in July or August in even-numbered years. Athletes must be 22 years of age or younger by December 31 of the year the championship is held. The hosting of the event is currently limited to the Nordic nations.
The 2019 Russian Athletics Championships was held from 24–27 July at the Olympic Stadium in Cheboksary. It was the seventh time that the capital of the Chuvash Republic hosted the event. The four-day competition featured 40 track and field events and was attended by 731 athletes from 72 regions of the country.
The IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final was an annual racewalking competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It served as the culmination of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge series from 2007 to 2012. It featured a men's and a women's 20 kilometres race walk. Any athlete could compete at the final, though to be eligible for the series prize money pot of US$202,000 a minimum of four finishes at Race Walking Challenge meetings held that year was required. If the points winner of the Race Walking Challenge series did not compete at the final, their prize money was halved.
The Balkan Race Walking Championships is an annual racewalking competition between athletes from member nations of Balkan Athletics. The championships features six individual races: senior men's and women's 20 kilometres race walks, men's and women's under-20 10 kilometres race walks, an under-18 boys' 10 km walk, and an under-18 girls' 5 kilometres race walk. Each individual race also has a national team component with points awarded based on finishing time, which are then totalled to form an overall team score for the championships.
