# Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk

The women's 20 km walk event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on August 21 at the Beijing Olympic Stadium. The qualifying standards were 1:33.30 (A standard) and 1:38.00 (B standard).

## Records

Prior to this event, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS) | 1:25:41 | Helsinki, Finland | 7 August 2005 |
| Olympic record | Wang Liping (CHN) | 1:29:05 | Sydney, Australia | 28 September 2000 |

## Schedule

All times are China standard time (UTC+8)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 21 August 2008 | 09:00 | Final |

## Results

| Rank | Athlete | Country | | Notes |
| | Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 1:26:31 | OR |
| | Kjersti Plätzer | Norway | 1:27:07 | NR |
| | Elisa Rigaudo | Italy | 1:27:12 | PB |
| 4 | Liu Hong | China | 1:27:17 | PB |
| 5 | María Vasco | Spain | 1:27:25 | NR |
| 6 | Beatriz Pascual | Spain | 1:27:44 | PB |
| 7 | Olive Loughnane | Ireland | 1:27:45 | PB |
| 8 | Ana Cabecinha | Portugal | 1:27:46 | NR |
| 9 | Vera Santos | Portugal | 1:28:14 | PB |
| 10 | Ryta Turava | Belarus | 1:28:26 | SB |
| 11 | Tatyana Sibileva | Russia | 1:28:28 | |
| 12 | Shi Na | China | 1:29:08 | SB |
| 13 | Mayumi Kawasaki | Japan | 1:29:43 | |
| 14 | Sabine Zimmer | Germany | 1:30:19 | |
| 15 | Sonata Milušauskaité | Lithuania | 1:30:26 | NR |
| 16 | Vira Zozulya | Ukraine | 1:30:31 | |
| 17 | María José Poves | Spain | 1:30:52 | |
| 18 | Kristina Saltanovic | Lithuania | 1:31:03 | SB |
| 19 | Jane Saville | Australia | 1:31:17 | |
| 20 | Sylwia Korzeniowska | Poland | 1:31:19 | |
| 21 | Johanna Jackson | Great Britain | 1:31:33 | NR |
| 22 | Melanie Seeger | Germany | 1:31:56 | |
| 23 | Ana Maria Groza | Romania | 1:32:16 | |
| 24 | Evaggelía Xinoú | Greece | 1:32:19 | PB |
| 25 | Sachiko Konishi | Japan | 1:32:21 | |
| 26 | Zuzana Schindlerová | Czech Republic | 1:32:57 | PB |
| 27 | Claire Woods | Australia | 1:33:02 | =PB |
| 28 | Kim Mi-Jung | South Korea | 1:33:55 | |
| 29 | Svetlana Tolstaya | Kazakhstan | 1:34:03 | SB |
| 30 | Joanne Dow | United States | 1:34:15 | SB |
| 31 | Zuzana Malíková | Slovakia | 1:34:33 | SB |
| 32 | Sniazhana Yurchanka | Belarus | 1:35:33 | |
| 33 | Nadiya Prokopuk | Ukraine | 1:35:50 | |
| 34 | Sandra Zapata | Colombia | 1:36:18 | |
| 35 | Johana Ordóñez | Ecuador | 1:36:26 | |
| 36 | Tania Regina Spindler | Brazil | 1:36:46 | |
| 37 | Verónica Colindres | El Salvador | 1:36:52 | SB |
| 38 | Edina Füsti | Hungary | 1:37:03 | |
| 39 | Kellie Wapshott | Australia | 1:37:59 | |
| 40 | Déspina Zapounídou | Greece | 1:39:11 | |
| 41 | Jolanta Dukure | Latvia | 1:41:03 | |
| 42 | Evelyn Núñez | Guatemala | 1:44:13 | |
| | Tatyana Kalmykova | Russia | DQ | |
| | Yang Mingxia | China | DQ | |
| | Elena Ginko | Belarus | DQ | |
| | Athanasía Tsoumeléka | Greece | 1:27:54 | DSQ |
| | Yuan Yufang | Malaysia | DNF | |
| | Susana Feitor | Portugal | DNF | |
OR - Olympic Record, NR - National Record, PB - Personal Best (= - Equaled), SB - Season Best

### Intermediates

| Intermediate | Athlete | Country | Mark |
| 4 km | 1. Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 17:00 |
| 4 km | 2. María Vasco | Spain | +0:27 |
| 4 km | 3. Vera Santos | Portugal | s.t. |
| 4 km | 4. Ryta Turava | Belarus | s.t. |
| 4 km | 5. Elisa Rigaudo | Italy | s.t. |
| 8 km | 1. Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 34:09 |
| 8 km | 2. Kjersti Plätzer | Norway | +0:41 |
| 8 km | 3. Ryta Turava | Belarus | s.t. |
| 8 km | 4. Tatyana Kalmykova | Russia | +0:42 |
| 8 km | 5. Beatriz Pascual | Spain | s.t. |
| 12 km | 1. Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 51:19 |
| 12 km | 2. Ryta Turava | Belarus | +0:41 |
| 12 km | 3. Kjersti Plätzer | Norway | +0:49 |
| 12 km | 4. María Vasco | Spain | s.t. |
| 12 km | 5. Tatyana Kalmykova | Russia | +0:56 |
| 16 km | 1. Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 1:08:31 |
| 16 km | 2. Ryta Turava | Belarus | +0:59 |
| 16 km | 3. Kjersti Plätzer | Norway | +1:09 |
| 16 km | 4. María Vasco | Spain | s.t. |
| 16 km | 5. Hong Liu | China | +1:20 |
s.t. - same time.