Athletics
50 kilometre race walk
Men's racewalk. Walker at right appears to be illegal in that both feet are off the ground, but an infraction is only committed when loss of contact is visible to the human eye.[1]
World records
MenFrance Yohann Diniz 3:32:33 (2014)
WomenChina Liu Hong 3:59:15 (2019)
Olympic records
MenAustralia Jared Tallent 3:36:53 (2012)
Yohann Diniz, world record holder

The 50 kilometre race walk[2] 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.

50 kilometres is approximately 31 miles.

The 50 kilometres race walk was dropped from the Olympic program after the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 and will be replaced by a mixed team race in order to achieve gender equality.

World records

See also: Men's 50 kilometres walk world record progression

See also: Women's 50 kilometres walk world record progression

The men's world record for the 50 km race walk was held by Denis Nizhegorodov, through his race of 3:34:14 in Cheboksary in 2008, until it was beaten by Yohann Diniz at the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zurich, in a time of 3:32:33.

All-time top 25

Men

Rank Time Athlete Nationality Date Place Ref
1 3:32:33 Yohann Diniz  France 15 August 2014 Zürich [5]
2 3:34:14 Denis Nizhegorodov  Russia 11 May 2008 Cheboksary
3 3:34:38 Matej Tóth  Slovakia 21 March 2015 Dudince [6]
4 3:35:47 Nathan Deakes  Australia 2 December 2006 Geelong
5 3:36:03 Robert Korzeniowski  Poland 27 August 2003 Saint-Denis
6 3:36:04 Alex Schwazer  Italy 11 February 2007 Rosignano Solvay
7 3:36:06 Yu Chaohong  China 22 October 2005 Nanjing
8 3:36:13 Zhao Chengliang  China 22 October 2005 Nanjing
9 3:36:20 Han Yucheng  China 27 February 2005 Nanning
10 3:36:42 German Skurygin  Russia 27 August 2003 Saint-Denis
11 3:36:45 Masatora Kawano  Japan 27 October 2019 Takahata [7]
12 3:36:53 Jared Tallent  Australia 11 August 2012 London
13 3:37:16 Si Tianfeng  China 11 August 2012 London
14 3:37:26 Valeriy Spitsyn  Russia 21 May 2000 Moskva
15 3:37:39 Satoshi Maruo  Japan 27 October 2019 Takahata [8]
16 3:37:41 Andrey Perlov  Soviet Union 5 August 1989 Leningrad
Ivan Noskov  Russia 15 August 2014 Zürich
18 3:37:46 Andreas Erm  Germany 27 August 2003 Saint-Denis
19 3:37:54 Robert Heffernan  Ireland 11 August 2012 London [9]
20 3:37:58 Xing Shucai  China 27 February 2005 Nanning
21 3:38:01 Aleksey Voyevodin  Russia 27 August 2003 Saint-Denis
22 3:38:02 Wang Qin  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan [10]
23 3:38:08 Sergey Kirdyapkin  Russia 12 August 2005 Helsinki
Igor Yerokhin  Russia 8 June 2008 Saransk
25 3:38:17 Ronald Weigel  East Germany 25 May 1986 Potsdam

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 3:38:17:

Women

Rank Time Athlete Nationality Date Place Ref
1 3:50:42 [a] Yelena Lashmanova  Russia 5 September 2020 Voronovo
2 3:57:08 [b] Klavdiya Afanasyeva  Russia 15 June 2019 Cheboksary [13]
3 3:59:15 Liu Hong  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan [14]
4 3:59:56 Margarita Nikiforova  Russia 5 September 2020 Voronovo
5 4:03:51 [c] Li Maocuo  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan [15]
6 4:04:36 Liang Rui  China 5 May 2018 Taicang [16]
7 4:04:50 Eleonora Giorgi  Italy 19 May 2019 Alytus [17]
8 4:05:46 Júlia Takács  Spain 19 May 2019 Alytus [18]
9 4:05:56 Inês Henriques  Portugal 13 August 2017 London [19]
10 4:07:30 Ma Faying  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan [20]
11 4:08:58 Yin Hang  China 13 August 2017 London [21]
12 4:09:33 Claire Tallent  Australia 5 May 2018 Taicang [22]
13 4:10:59 Monica Svensson  Sweden 21 October 2007 Scanzorosciate
14 4:11:01 Raquel González  Spain 10 February 2019 El Vendrell [23]
15 4:11:12 Johana Ordóñez  Ecuador 11 August 2019 Lima [24]
16 4:12:16 Yelena Ginko  Belarus 17 October 2004 Scanzorosciate
17 4:12:44 Alina Tsviliy  Ukraine 7 August 2018 Berlin [25]
18 4:12:56 Paola Pérez  Ecuador 5 May 2018 Taicang [26]
19 4:13:56 Mirna Ortíz  Guatemala 24 February 2019 Guatemala City [27]
20 4:14:25 Mária Czaková  Slovakia 24 March 2018 Dudince [28]
21 4:14:31 Jiang Pengqin  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan
22 4:14:49 Bai Tiantian  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan
23 4:15:33 Wang Yingliu  China 9 March 2019 Huangshan
24 4:15:42 Mayra Herrera  Guatemala 9 September 2017 Owego
25 4:15:46 Mar Juárez  Spain 16 February 2020 Torrevieja [29]

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 4:15:46:

Olympic medalists

Men’s

Games Gold Silver Bronze
edit
1932 Los Angeles
details 		Tommy Green
 Great Britain 		Jānis Daliņš
 Latvia 		Ugo Frigerio
 Italy
1936 Berlin
details 		Harold Whitlock
 Great Britain 		Arthur Tell Schwab
 Switzerland 		Adalberts Bubenko
 Latvia
1948 London
details 		John Ljunggren
 Sweden 		Gaston Godel
 Switzerland 		Tebbs Lloyd Johnson
 Great Britain
1952 Helsinki
details 		Pino Dordoni
 Italy 		Josef Doležal
 Czechoslovakia 		Antal Róka
 Hungary
1956 Melbourne
details 		Norman Read
 New Zealand 		Yevgeniy Maskinskov
 Soviet Union 		John Ljunggren
 Sweden
1960 Rome
details 		Don Thompson
 Great Britain 		John Ljunggren
 Sweden 		Abdon Pamich
 Italy
1964 Tokyo
details 		Abdon Pamich
 Italy 		Paul Nihill
 Great Britain 		Ingvar Pettersson
 Sweden
1968 Mexico City
details 		Christoph Höhne
 East Germany 		Antal Kiss
 Hungary 		Larry Young
 United States
1972 Munich
details 		Bernd Kannenberg
 West Germany 		Veniamin Soldatenko
 Soviet Union 		Larry Young
 United States
1976 Montreal not included in the Olympic program
1980 Moscow
details 		Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany 		Jordi Llopart
 Spain 		Yevgeniy Ivchenko
 Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles
details 		Raúl González
 Mexico 		Bo Gustafsson
 Sweden 		Sandro Bellucci
 Italy
1988 Seoul
details 		Vyacheslav Ivanenko
 Soviet Union 		Ronald Weigel
 East Germany 		Hartwig Gauder
 East Germany
1992 Barcelona
details 		Andrey Perlov
 Unified Team 		Carlos Mercenario
 Mexico 		Ronald Weigel
 Germany
1996 Atlanta
details 		Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland 		Mikhail Shchennikov
 Russia 		Valentí Massana
 Spain
2000 Sydney
details 		Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland 		Aigars Fadejevs
 Latvia 		Joel Sánchez
 Mexico
2004 Athens
details 		Robert Korzeniowski
 Poland 		Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia 		Aleksey Voyevodin
 Russia
2008 Beijing
details 		Alex Schwazer
 Italy 		Jared Tallent
 Australia 		Denis Nizhegorodov
 Russia
2012 London
details 		Jared Tallent
 Australia 		Si Tianfeng
 China 		Robert Heffernan
 Ireland
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details 		Matej Tóth
 Slovakia 		Jared Tallent
 Australia 		Hirooki Arai
 Japan
2020 Tokyo
details 		Dawid Tomala
 Poland 		Jonathan Hilbert
 Germany 		Evan Dunfee
 Canada

World Championships medalists

Men’s

Championships Gold Silver Bronze
1976 Malmö  Veniamin Soldatenko (URS)  Enrique Vera (MEX)  Reima Salonen (FIN)
1983 Helsinki
details 		 Ronald Weigel (GDR)  José Marín (ESP)  Sergey Yung (URS)
1987 Rome
details 		 Hartwig Gauder (GDR)  Ronald Weigel (GDR)  Vyacheslav Ivanenko (URS)
1991 Tokyo
details 		 Aleksandr Potashov (URS)  Andrey Perlov (URS)  Hartwig Gauder (GER)
1993 Stuttgart
details 		 Jesús Ángel García (ESP)  Valentin Kononen (FIN)  Valeriy Spitsyn (RUS)
1995 Gothenburg
details 		 Valentin Kononen (FIN)  Giovanni Perricelli (ITA)  Robert Korzeniowski (POL)
1997 Athens
details 		 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Jesús Ángel García (ESP)  Miguel Rodríguez (MEX)
1999 Seville
details 		 Ivano Brugnetti (ITA)  Nikolay Matyukhin (RUS)  Curt Clausen (USA)
2001 Edmonton
details 		 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  Jesús Ángel García (ESP)  Edgar Hernández (MEX)
2003 Saint-Denis
details 		 Robert Korzeniowski (POL)  German Skurygin (RUS)  Andreas Erm (GER)
2005 Helsinki
details 		 Sergey Kirdyapkin (RUS)  Aleksey Voyevodin (RUS)  Alex Schwazer (ITA)
2007 Osaka
details 		 Nathan Deakes (AUS)  Yohann Diniz (FRA)  Alex Schwazer (ITA)
2009 Berlin
details 		 Trond Nymark (NOR)  Jesús Ángel García (ESP)  Grzegorz Sudoł (POL)
2011 Daegu
details 		 Sergey Bakulin (RUS)  Denis Nizhegorodov (RUS)  Jared Tallent (AUS)
2013 Moscow
details 		 Robert Heffernan (IRL)  Mikhail Ryzhov (RUS)  Jared Tallent (AUS)
2015 Beijing
details 		 Matej Tóth (SVK)  Jared Tallent (AUS)  Takayuki Tanii (JPN)
2017 London
details 		 Yohann Diniz (FRA)  Hirooki Arai (JPN)  Kai Kobayashi (JPN)
2019 Doha
details 		 Yusuke Suzuki (JPN)  João Vieira (POR)  Evan Dunfee (CAN)

Women’s

Championships Gold Silver Bronze
2017 London
details 		 Inês Henriques (POR)  Yin Hang (CHN)  Yang Shuqing (CHN)
2019 Doha
details 		 Liang Rui (CHN)  Li Maocuo (CHN)  Eleonora Giorgi (ITA)

Notes

  1. ^ Not recognised by World Athletics
  2. ^ Not recognised by World Athletics due to lack of international judges.
  3. ^ Not recognised by World Athletics

References

  1. ^ Belson, Ken. "One Step at a Time? It’s More Complicated Than That" The New York Times (August 10, 2012)
  2. ^ "50 Kilometres Race Walk". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "All-time men's best 50 km road walk". alltime-athletics.com. October 8, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "50 km Road Walk - Men - Senior - Outdoor". World Athletics. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  5. ^ "European Athletics Championships – Men's 50km Race Walk Results". European Athletics. August 15, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  6. ^ Zuzana Trojakova (March 21, 2015). "Toth records third-fastest 50km race walk in history in Dudince". IAAF. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Jon Mulkeen (October 27, 2019). "Kawano breaks Japanese 50km race walk record in Takahata". IAAF. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  8. ^ Jon Mulkeen (October 27, 2019). "Kawano breaks Japanese 50km race walk record in Takahata". IAAF. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  9. ^ "50km Race Walk Results". london2012.com. August 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  10. ^ Bob Ramsak (March 9, 2019). "Liu breaks world 50km race walk record in Huangshan, cracking 4-hour barrier". IAAF. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  11. ^ "All-time women's best 50 km road walk". alltime-athletics.com. August 8, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "50 km Road Walk - Women - Senior - Outdoor". World Athletics. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  13. ^ "Cheboksary (RUS): Klavdiya Afanasiyeva 3:57:07 on 50km". Marcia dal Mondo. June 16, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  14. ^ Bob Ramsak (March 9, 2019). "FLASH - Liu breaks world 50km race walk record in Huangshan, cracking 4-hour barrier". IAAF. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  15. ^ Yang Yi (March 9, 2019). "Liu maintains dominance in women's race walk with new 50km world record". xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  16. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). IAAF. May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  17. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). EAA. May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  18. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). EAA. May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  19. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). IAAF. August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  20. ^ Yang Yi (March 9, 2019). "Liu maintains dominance in women's race walk with new 50km world record". xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  21. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). IAAF. August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  22. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). IAAF. May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  23. ^ "Raquel González bate el récord de España de 50km marcha (4:11.01) en El Vendrell" (in Spanish). RFEA. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  24. ^ "50km Racewalk Results" (PDF). lima2019.pe. August 11, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  25. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). European Athletics. August 7, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  26. ^ "50km Race Walk Results" (PDF). IAAF. May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  27. ^ "27/02/2019 Guatemala City (GUA): The 7th race walking championships of Centro-America". marciadalmondo.com. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  28. ^ "Dudinská Päťdesiatka 2018 Results" (PDF) (in Croatian). HAS. March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  29. ^ "17/02/2020 Torreviejas (ESP): Smolonskis wins; Ivan Pajuelo and Mar Juárez last champions of Spain of the 50km". marciadalmondo.com. February 17, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.

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