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).
The men's points race in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of a 160 lap points race with 16 sprints where points were awarded. The event was held on 24 August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Velodrome. There were 23 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist in the event. The event was won by Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia, the nation's first victory in the men's points race. Spain's Joan Llaneras, the defending champion, took silver; he was the first and only person to win multiple medals in the relatively short-lived points race, and ended with three medals after another gold in 2008. Guido Fulst of Germany took bronze, the first medal in the event for that nation since 1900.
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.
The men's 100 kilometres was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Its distance was the longest of the individual event distances. A challenge cup was presented by the Prince of Wales to the winner. There were 43 competitors from 11 nations. Each nation could enter up to 12 cyclists. The event was won by Charles Henry Bartlett of Great Britain, with his countryman Charles Denny finishing second. Octave Lapize earned bronze, making France the only nation to have medalists at both appearances of the 100 kilometres race.
Matej Tóth is a Slovak race walker. He is a former Olympic champion in the 50 km walk.
Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin is a race walker from Russia who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was World champion over the 20 km distance. His World Championship was retroactively stripped in 2015 due to doping.
Max Götze was a German track cycling racer who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Hermann Martens was a German track cyclist who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Georg Katzer was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music in the German Democratic Republic and the founder of the first electronic-music studio in the GDR. He held leading positions in music organisations, first in the East, then in the united Germany, and received many awards, including the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Music Authors' Prize.
The men's 10 kilometres walk event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was the only racewalking event at this Games. After 1924, the 10 kilometre walk would not be held again until 1948. The competition was held from Wednesday, July 9, 1924, to Sunday, July 13, 1924. The races were held on the track which was as for all other events of 500 metres in circumference. Twenty-five race walkers from 13 nations competed.
Rudolf Horn is a former Austrian biathlete and cross-country skier. He competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics, the 1980 Winter Olympics and the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Wang Zhen is a Chinese race walker who specialises in the 10 kilometres and 20 kilometres race walk. He holds the senior Asian record for the 20 km with his time of 1:17:36 hours and is also the Asian, Chinese and junior world record holder over 10 km. He was the bronze medallist over 20 km at the 2012 London Olympics and the gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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.
The men's track time trial cycling event at the 1936 Summer Olympics took place on 8 August and was one of six events at the 1936 Olympics. Nineteen cyclists from 19 nations competed, with each nation limited to one competitor. The event was won by Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands, the nation's first victory in the men's track time trial after two consecutive silver medals in 1924 and 1928. Pierre Georget's silver put France on the podium for the third time. Germany earned its first medal in the event with Rudolf Karsch's bronze.
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.
Dane Alex Bird-Smith is an Australian racewalking athlete. He competes in the 20 kilometres race walk, and has a best of 1:19:28 hours for the distance, set in 2017. He competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he was the bronze medallist. Bird-Smith represented Australia at the World Championships in Athletics three times, and has appeared four times at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships/Cup.
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.
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.
Rudolf Čillík was a Slovak cross-country skier. He competed in the men's 15 kilometre event at the 1960 Winter Olympics. He also competed at FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1962 in Zakopane and 1966 in Oslo.
