Race walking at the Summer Olympics
Racewalking has been an Olympic event since 1908.
Racewalking at the Summer Olympics has used several distances. The 2020 Games had three final-only events: a men's and women's 20-kilometer race, plus a men's 50-kilometer race, which is the longest Olympic athletics event.
Quick Facts
- Event
- Racewalking
- Gender
- Men and women
Facts from the source article.
Intercalated Games
The 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens were once considered official Olympics, but the IOC later withdrew that status. Two track walking events took place: the men’s 1500 m and 3000 m walks. In the shorter race, American George Bonhag, a total beginner at race walking who had previously run the 5-mile, won after Canadian Don Linden, the silver medalist, gave him basic tips on technique. The 3000 m walk was added on short notice to the athletics program, approved and judged by King Constantine I of Greece following complaints about the first event. The entire field except Bonhag and Linden was reshuffled. Britain’s Robert Wilkinson and Austria’s Eugen Spiegler were again disqualified near the end for running, allowing Hungary’s György Sztantics to win by a huge margin.
More in Athletics Events at the Olympics
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