# Race walking at the Summer Olympics

Racewalking 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 race walk, and a men's 50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
The first men's events came at the 1908 London Olympics, which featured 3500 m and 10-mile distances. A 10-Kilometer version was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics and it continued until 1952 (skipping three editions from 1928 to 1936). There was also a one-off 3000 m walk at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. The men's 20 km walk became the standard short distance for men in 1956 and has continued since then. The longer men's event over 50 km was first held at the 1932 Summer Olympics and was held continuously until the 2020 Olympics, except for a brief drop from the program in 1976 – the World Athletics held a World Championship for the event in protest and it was restored.
The first women's event was introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 84 years after the first men's race. Held over 10 km for the first two editions, the women's event was extended to match the men's 20 km distance from the 2000 Sydney Olympics onwards. Women have never commonly competed internationally over 50 km, thus it was never proposed as an Olympic event – it was the last on the Olympic athletics programme in which men competed, but women did not have an equivalent. The 50 km is also the longest distance race for an Olympic athletics event. In April 2023, a new Marathon Race Walking Mixed Relay event was announced for the 2024 Games, replacing the men's 50 km event.
The Olympic records in racewalking were all broken at the 2012 London Olympics. In the 20 km walk Chen Ding holds the men's record of 1:18:46 hours, while Elena Lashmanova held the women's mark of 1:25:02 hours until she was disqualified for doping in 2021. The men's 50 km record is 3:36:53 hours, set by Jared Tallent. Robert Korzeniowski is the most successful Olympic racewalker, having won the 50 km three times as well as the 20 km walk. Three other athletes have won four Olympic walk medals: Ugo Frigerio won three gold medals and a bronze in early competitions, Volodymyr Holubnychy won two 20 km walk titles as well as a silver and a bronze, and Jared Tallent won a gold medal in the 50 km along with two silver and a bronze.
The 1906 Intercalated Games, now not considered an official Olympic event, was the first venue for racewalking under the Olympic banner. Poor technique and judging significantly affected the 1500 m walk event, to the point where a rematch over 3000 m was added at short notice and judged by Constantine I of Greece.
Race walking has been particularly affected by doping, with many Russian world and Olympic champions testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs.

## Medal summary
### Men's 20 km walk

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Volodymyr Holubnychy | Soviet Union (URS) | 1960–1972 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Jefferson Pérez | Ecuador (ECU) | 1996–2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Maurizio Damilano | Italy (ITA) | 1980–1988 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Peter Frenkel | East Germany (GDR) | 1972–1976 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Wang Zhen | China (CHN) | 2012–2016 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Hans-Georg Reimann | East Germany (GDR) | 1972–1976 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

#### Medals by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Italy (ITA) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Mexico (MEX) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | China (CHN) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ecuador (ECU) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Russia (RUS) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Spain (ESP) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | United Team of Germany (EUA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Guatemala (GUA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### Women's 20 km walk

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2000 Sydney details | Wang Liping China | Kjersti Plätzer Norway | María Vasco Spain |
| 2004 Athens details | Athanasia Tsoumeleka Greece | Olimpiada Ivanova Russia | Jane Saville Australia |
| 2008 Beijing details | Olga Kaniskina Russia | Kjersti Tysse Plätzer Norway | Elisa Rigaudo Italy |
| 2012 London details | Qieyang Shenjie China | Liu Hong China | Lü Xiuzhi China |
| 2016 Rio details | Liu Hong China | María Guadalupe González Mexico | Lü Xiuzhi China |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Antonella Palmisano Italy | Sandra Arenas Colombia | Liu Hong China |
| 2024 Paris details | Yang Jiayu China | María Pérez Spain | Jemima Montag Australia |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Liu Hong | China (CHN) | 2012–2020 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Kjersti Plätzer | Norway (NOR) | 2000–2008 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Lü Xiuzhi | China (CHN) | 2012–2016 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

#### Medals by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China (CHN) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Greece (GRE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Colombia (COL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

### Mixed Marathon Relay

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2024 Paris details | Spain Álvaro Martín María Pérez | Ecuador Glenda Morejón Brian Pintado | Australia Rhydian Cowley Jemima Montag |

## Defunct distances
### Men's 3000 m walk

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1920 Antwerp details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | George Parker Australia | Richard Remer United States |

### Men's 3500 m walk

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1908 London details | George Larner Great Britain | Ernest Webb Great Britain | Harry Kerr Australasia |

### Men's 10 km

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1912 Stockholm details | George Goulding Canada | Ernest Webb Great Britain | Fernando Altimani Italy |
| 1920 Antwerp details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | Joseph Pearman United States | Charles Gunn Great Britain |
| 1924 Paris details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | Gordon Goodwin Great Britain | Cecil McMaster South Africa |
| 1928–1936 | not included in the Olympic program | not included in the Olympic program | not included in the Olympic program |
| 1948 London details | John Mikaelsson Sweden | Ingemar Johansson Sweden | Fritz Schwab Switzerland |
| 1952 Helsinki details | John Mikaelsson Sweden | Fritz Schwab Switzerland | Bruno Junk Soviet Union |

### Men's 10 miles

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1908 London details | George Larner Great Britain | Ernest Webb Great Britain | Edward Spencer Great Britain |

### Men's 50 km walk

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Robert Korzeniowski | Poland (POL) | 1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Jared Tallent | Australia (AUS) | 2008–2016 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | John Ljunggren | Sweden (SWE) | 1948–1960 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Abdon Pamich | Italy (ITA) | 1960–1964 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Hartwig Gauder | East Germany (GDR) | 1980–1988 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Ronald Weigel | East Germany (GDR) Germany (GER) | 1988–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Denis Nizhegorodov | Russia (RUS) | 2004–2008 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Larry Young | United States (USA) | 1968–1972 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

#### Medals by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Poland (POL) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Great Britain (GBR) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Italy (ITA) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Australia (AUS) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Mexico (MEX) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | New Zealand (NZL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Slovakia (SVK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Unified Team (EUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | West Germany (FRG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 14 | Latvia (LAT) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 | China (CHN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | United States (USA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Women's 10 km

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1992 Barcelona details | Chen Yueling China | Yelena Nikolayeva Unified Team | Li Chunxiu China |
| 1996 Atlanta details | Yelena Nikolayeva Russia | Elisabetta Perrone Italy | Wang Yan China |

## Intercalated Games

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.
Two walking events were held on the track at the 1906 Games: a men's 1500 m walk and a men's 3000 m walk. The first final to be held was the shorter distance. American George Bonhag, an absolute walking novice who had competed in the 5-mile run, came away as the winner after Canada's Don Linden, the eventual runner-up, had given basic technical advice to allow him to compete.
The 3000 m walk was held two days later as a last minute addition to the athletics programme, which was approved and also adjudicated by Constantine I of Greece after the dissatisfaction with the initial race. The entire walking field, minus Bonhag and Linden, was rearranged for the competition. Britain's Robert Wilkinson and Austria's Eugen Spiegler were again disqualified in the final stages for running, leaving Hungary's György Sztantics as the winner by a large margin.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1500 metres | George Bonhag United States | Don Linden Canada | Konstantinos Spetsiotis Greece |
| 3000 metres | György Sztantics Hungary | Hermann Müller Germany | Georgios Saridakis Greece |