# Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk

The women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held on 11 August on a route along The Mall and Constitution Hill.

## Summary

From the start of the race, defending champion Olga Kaniskina took the lead, and only Liu Hong would go with her. The two opened up a big gap with a chase pack of a Guatemalan, the other two Russians, and the other two Chinese. By the end of 8 km, the pack began to lose walkers, Mirna Ortíz and Johanna Jackson were disqualified, and Liu began to lose contact with Kaniskina, who was leading on her own. Shortly after the halfway mark, the pack was down to Elena Lashmanova and Anisya Kirdyapkina leading Xiuzhi Lu and Qieyang Shijie. An hour into the race Lu began to lose contact, allowing Lashmanova, Kirdyapkina and Qieyang to chase and pass Liu. By 14 km Kaniskina had a 33-second lead. Almost unnoticeably, the gap between Kaniskina and the chasers had come down to 24 seconds at 16 km, with Kirdyapkina and then Liu struggling to stay with the group. After another 2 km lap at 18 km, the gap was down to 17 seconds, still seemingly insurmountable with just one lap to go. With Kaniskina looking strong, the gap kept falling. Kaniskina started to show the strain, and as the pass became inevitable, she began the most pronounced arm swing trying to find a last bit of speed, but it wasn't enough. Less than 200 metres from the finish, Lashmanova went by Kaniskina and on to the gold carpet. Lashmanova finished with a 1:25:02 world record. A broken Kaniskina finished 7 seconds back, just a second slower than the previous world record. Qieyang happily finished another 7 seconds later for bronze. After the finish, Kaniskina was barely able to walk, while a fresh Lashmanova celebrated her victory.
Later, both the original top two athletes, Lashmanova and Kaniskina, and the original fifth place holder, who was also Russian, were disqualified for doping violations, and their results were annulled. After the medal reallocation, the Chinese gained a podium sweep, with the gold medal for Shenjie Qieyang, silver for Liu Hong, and bronze for Lü Xiuzhi. The medal reallocation ceremony was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on 4 October 2023 after all the events of the Asian Games ended on that day.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Vera Sokolova (RUS) | 1:25:08 | Sochi, Russia | 26 February 2011 |
| Olympic record | Olga Kaniskina (RUS) | 1:26:31 | Beijing, China | 21 August 2008 |
| 2012 World leading | Elmira Alembekova (RUS) | 1:25:27 | Sochi, Russia | 18 February 2012 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 11 August | Final | Qieyang Shenjie | China | 1:25:16 | OR WL |
Elena Lashmanova's performance in the final was initially considered a world record, but was later rescinded retroactively due to a doping violation.

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 11 August 2012 | 17:00 | Final |

## Results

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Qieyang Shijie | China | 1:25:16 | OR, AR |
| | Liu Hong | China | 1:26:00 | |
| | Lü Xiuzhi | China | 1:27:10 | |
| 4 | Elisa Rigaudo | Italy | 1:27:36 | SB |
| 5 | Beatriz Pascual | Spain | 1:27:56 | SB |
| 6 | Ana Cabecinha | Portugal | 1:28:03 | SB |
| 7 | María Vasco | Spain | 1:28:14 | SB |
| 8 | Masumi Fuchise | Japan | 1:28:41 | SB |
| 9 | María José Poves | Spain | 1:29:36 | |
| 10 | Olive Loughnane | Ireland | 1:29:39 | SB |
| 11 | Eleonora Giorgi | Italy | 1:29:48 | PB |
| 12 | Inês Henriques | Portugal | 1:29:54 | SB |
| 13 | Nadiya Borovska | Ukraine | 1:30:03 | PB |
| 14 | Regan Lamble | Australia | 1:30:08 | PB |
| 15 | Mayumi Kawasaki | Japan | 1:30:20 | SB |
| 16 | Melanie Seeger | Germany | 1:30:44 | SB |
| 17 | Laura Reynolds | Ireland | 1:31:02 | PB |
| 18 | Kristina Saltanovic | Lithuania | 1:31:04 | SB |
| 19 | Agnieszka Szwarnóg | Poland | 1:31:14 | |
| 20 | Agnieszka Dygacz | Poland | 1:31:28 | SB |
| 21 | Agnese Pastare | Latvia | 1:31:54 | SB |
| 22 | Hanna Drabenia | Belarus | 1:31:58 | PB |
| 23 | Brigita Virbalyte | Lithuania | 1:31:58 | |
| 24 | Olha Iakovenko | Ukraine | 1:32:07 | PB |
| 25 | Beki Lee | Australia | 1:32:14 | PB |
| 26 | Maria Michta | United States | 1:32:27 | PB |
| 27 | Monica Equihua | Mexico | 1:32:28 | PB |
| 28 | Jamy Franco | Guatemala | 1:33:18 | |
| 29 | Sandra Arenas | Colombia | 1:33:21 | |
| 30 | Claudia Balderrama | Bolivia | 1:33:28 | PB |
| 31 | Ingrid Hernandez | Colombia | 1:33:34 | PB |
| 32 | Lucie Pelantova | Czech Republic | 1:33:35 | |
| 33 | Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc | Vietnam | 1:33:36 | NR |
| 34 | Kumi Otoshi | Japan | 1:33:50 | |
| 35 | Claudia Stef | Romania | 1:33:56 | |
| 36 | Neringa Aidietyte | Lithuania | 1:34:01 | |
| 37 | Yadira Guaman | Ecuador | 1:34:47 | PB |
| 38 | Viktória Madarász | Hungary | 1:34:48 | |
| 39 | Ayman Kozhakhmetova | Kazakhstan | 1:35:00 | |
| 40 | Arabelly Orjuela | Colombia | 1:35:05 | |
| 41 | Despina Zapounidou | Greece | 1:35:19 | |
| 42 | Paulina Buziak | Poland | 1:35:23 | |
| 43 | Mayra Herrera | Guatemala | 1:35:33 | |
| 44 | Nastassia Yatsevich | Belarus | 1:35:41 | |
| 45 | Vera Santos | Portugal | 1:35:51 | |
| 46 | Paola Perez | Ecuador | 1:37:05 | |
| 47 | Rachel Seaman | Canada | 1:37:36 | |
| 48 | Maria Czakova | Slovakia | 1:37:43 | |
| 49 | Anne Halkivaha | Finland | 1:38:49 | |
| 50 | Milangela Rosales | Venezuela | 1:42:46 | |
| | Sabine Krantz | Germany | DNF | |
| | Sholpan Kozhakhmetova | Kazakhstan | DNF | |
| | Johanna Jackson | Great Britain | DQ | |
| | Jeon Yeong-Eun | South Korea | DQ | |
| | Mirna Ortiz | Guatemala | DQ | |
| | Claire Tallent | Australia | DQ | |
| DQ | Elena Lashmanova | Russia | 1:25:02 | Doping |
| DQ | Olga Kaniskina | Russia | 1:25:09 | Doping |
| DQ | Anisya Kirdyapkina | Russia | 1:26:26 | Doping |
| DQ | Semiha Mutlu | Turkey | 1:35:33 | Doping |
| DQ | Olena Shumkina | Ukraine | 1:36:42 | Doping |
* On 24 March 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued a decision that all competitive results obtained by Olga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified for doping. The medals and places were reallocated. Anisya Kirdyapkina was also disqualified for doping.
* On 21 March 2022, the Athletics Integrity Unit has issued a 2-year ban for Elena Lashmanova, starting from 9 March 2021, and also disqualified her results from 18 February 2012, to 3 January 2014.