The Women's 20 km Walk event at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

was held throughout the city of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

on August 16, beginning and ending at the Brandenburg Gate. Undefeated since May 2007, the Olympic and World champion

Olga Kaniskina Olga Nikolayevna Kaniskina (russian: О́льга Никола́евна Кани́ськина; born January 19, 1985 in Napolnaya Tavla, Kochkurovsky District, Mordovian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian coach and former race ...

was a clear favourite. Russian champion and second fastest of the year

Vera Sokolova Vera Aleksandrovna Sokolova (russian: Вера Александровна Соколова; born June 8, 1987 in Solianoy, Morgaushsky District, Chuvash Republic) is a Russian race walker. A gold medalist on the track at World Youth and European ...

was predicted as a possible medallist, as were Sabine Krantz and Kjersti Platzer who had both won on the

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, 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. Race judges carefully asse ...

circuit prior to the competition. Amongst the other fastest athletes before the championships were Russians

Anisya Kirdyapkina Anisya Byasyrovna Kirdyapkina (russian: Анися Бясыровна Кирдяпкина; née Kornikova russian: Корникова; born October 23, 1989) is a Russian race walker. She is married to Sergey Kirdyapkin, who is also a racewalker. ...

and Larisa Emelyanova, while Olympic medallist Elisa Rigaudo and

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

medallist Masumi Fuchise were suggested as other contenders for the podium. Competing on the course along the

Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not rela ...

boulevard, German Sabine Krantz led early on, but dropped out halfway into the race, and Norwegian Platzer was disqualified with five kilometres to go. Kaniskina emerged as the clear winner, becoming the first woman to win the racewalking gold in consecutive championships. Forty-nine seconds behind her was the surprise silver medallist Olive Loughnane, who won

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's first championship medal since 2003, and her first ever medal at a major championships. Liu Hong took the bronze, while Russian teenager Kirdyapkina took fourth place. Kaniskina's victory completed a Russian men's and women's 20 km double with

Valeriy Borchin Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin (russian: Вале́рий Ви́кторович Бо́рчин; born 11 September 1986) is a race walker from Russia who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was World champion over the 20 km distance. His Worl ...

, and she received a winner's prize of $60,000 for her achievement. Her win highlighted her success in an event in which she had won an Olympic gold, two World Championships titles, and a gold in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in just three years. On January 15, 2015, Kaniskina's results were disqualified for doping violations. Most of the athletes coached by

Viktor Chegin Viktor Mikhailovich Chegin (russian: Виктор Михайлович Чёгин; born 3 February 1962 in Bersenevka, Lyambirsky District) is a banned Russian racewalking coach. He was responsible for training all three athletes who swept the med ...

have received similar bans. On July 6, 2016, Loughnane will receive the gold medal in a full ceremony at the

2016 European Athletics Championships The 2016 European Athletics Championships was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between 6 and 10 July 2016. It was the first time the Netherlands hosted the event. Due to 2016 being an Olympic year, there was no racewalking and the marathon compet ...

Medalists

Records

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

References

;General
Women's 20 km walk results
2009-09-08). IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-16. ;Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 World Championships In Athletics - Women's 20 Kilometres Walk Walk 20 kilometres Racewalking at the World Athletics Championships 2009 in women's athletics