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Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. However, if there is an argument between referee, a replay video must be reviewed to judge accordingly. Typically held on either or , common distances range from up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
The current race walking contests at the Summer Olympics are the 20 kilometres race walk (men and women) and the marathon race walk mixed relay, the latter of which debuted at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The 50 kilometres race walk (men only) was discontinued after the 2020 Summer Olympics. The biennial World Athletics Championships also features both 20 and 50 kilometer events, the 50 km walk for women being contested until 2019. The 50 km race walk was replaced by the 35 kilometres race walk as standard championship discipline in 2022. The IAAF World Race Walking Cup, first held in 1961, is a stand-alone global competition for the discipline and it has 10 kilometres race walks for junior athletes, in addition to the Olympic-standard events. The IAAF World Indoor Championships featured 5000 m and 3000 m race walk variations, but these were discontinued after 1993. Top-level athletics championships and games typically feature 20 km racewalking events.
The sport emerged from a British culture of long-distance competitive walking known as pedestrianism, which began to develop the ruleset that is the basis of the modern discipline around the mid-19th century. Since the mid-20th century onwards, Russian and Chinese athletes have been among the most successful on the global stage, with Europe and parts of Latin America producing most of the remaining top-level walkers. However, it has been particularly affected by doping, with many Russian world and Olympic champions testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Compared to other forms of foot racing, stride length is reduced; to achieve competitive speeds racewalkers must attain cadence rates comparable to those achieved by running.
Athletes stay low to the ground by keeping their arms pumping low, close to their hips. If one sees a racewalker's shoulders rising, it may be a sign that the athlete is losing contact with the ground. What appears to be an exaggerated swivel to the hip is, in fact, a full rotation of the pelvis. Athletes aim to move the pelvis forward and to minimize sideways motion in order to achieve maximum forward propulsion. Speed is achieved by stepping quickly with the aim of rapid turnover. This minimizes the risk of the feet leaving the ground. Strides are short and quick, with pushoff coming forward from the ball of the foot, again to minimize the risk of losing contact with the ground. World-class race walkers (male and female) can average under 4 and 5 minutes per kilometre in a 20 km race walk (12 to 15 kilometers per hour or 7.5 to 9 miles per hour).
The Walk was included at the 1876 to 1879 National Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships.National Association of Amateur Athletes of America, 1880. [1] Retrieved Nov 19, 2022
Race walking first appeared in the modern Olympics in 1904 in the form of a half-mile (804.672m) walk in the all-round competition, the precursor to the 10-event decathlon. In 1908, stand-alone 1,500m and 3,000m race walks were added, and, excluding 1924, there has been at least one race walk (for men) in every Olympics since.
Women's race walking became an Olympic event in 1992, following years of active lobbying by female internationals.
A World Cup in race walking is held biennially, and race walk events appear in the World Athletics Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Pan American Games, among others.
High School: Racewalking is sometimes included in high school indoor and outdoor track meets, the rules often more relaxed. The distances walked tend to be relatively short, with the 1500 m being the most commonly held event. Racing also occurs at 3 km, 5 km and 10 km, with records kept and annual rankings published.
In Malcolm in the Middle season 4 episode "Malcolm Holds His Tongue", Hal gets into the sport and exposes his local park rival as 'nothing but a common jogger' by proving that both of his feet leave the ground once every fourth step.
In the 1966 film Walk, Don't Run, Jim Hutton plays a racewalker competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Cary Grant and Samantha Eggar co-star.
Irish Olympian John Kelly appears briefly as a racewalker in the 1968 musical film Star!, starring Julie Andrews and Richard Crenna.
In the 2021 film Queenpins, actress Kristen Bell plays a 3-time gold medal Olympic racewalker and extreme couponer.
In a local Seattle sketch comedy series Almost Live!, Bill Nye played "Speed Walker", a superhero who fights crime while adhering to the standards of competitive speed-walking.
The 2025 comedy film Racewalkers centres on a washed-up former baseball player who begins to train as a race walker.Jim Slotek, "Original-Cin Q&A: Blue Mountain, the Cancon Comedy Racewalkers and the Weirdest Olympic Sport". Original Cin, May 28, 2025.
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