The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and made its final Olympic appearance in

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. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it. 50 kilometres is approximately 31 miles. The 50 kilometres race walk was dropped from the Olympic program after the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 and will be replaced by a mixed team race in order to achieve gender equality.

World records

The men's world record for the 50 km race walk was held by

Denis Nizhegorodov Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov (russian: Денис Геннадьевич Нижегородов; born 26 July 1980) is a retired Russian race walker. Between 2008 and 2014 he held the world record A world record is usually the best global ...

, through his race of 3:34:14 in Cheboksary in 2008, until it was beaten by Yohann Diniz at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954. Great Britain headed the medal table, w ...

in Zurich, in a time of 3:32:33.

All-time top 25

Men

*Correct as of December 2021.

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 3:38:17: * Yohann Diniz also walked 3:33:12 (2017), 3:37:43 (2019), 3:37:48 (2016). *

also walked 3:35:29 (2004), 3:38:02 (2006). *

Matej Tóth Matej Tóth (; born 10 February 1983) is a Slovak race walker. He is a former Olympic champion in the 50 km walk. Career Toth won the gold medal in the 50 km walk at the 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, and at the 2015 World Championsh ...

also walked 3:36:21 (2014). * Robert Korzeniowski also walked 3:36:39 (2002). * Alex Schwazer also walked 3:37:04 (2008), 3:37:09 (2008). * Robert Heffernan also walked 3:37:56 (2013).

Women

*Correct as of June 2021.

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 4:15:46: *

Margarita Nikiforova A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...

also walked 4:03:07 (2021). * Inês Henriques also walked 4:08:26 (2017), 4:09:21 (2018), 4:13:57 (2019). * Yin Hang also walked 4:09:09 (2018). * Claire Tallent also walked 4:12:44 (2019). *

Júlia Takács Júlia Takács (born 29 June 1989) is a Spanish racewalking, race walker. She competed in the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk, women's 20 kilometres walk event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Takács is Hungaria ...

also walked 4:13:04 (2018), 4:15:22 (2018). *

Ma Faying Ma Faying (born 30 August 1993) is a Chinese racewalking athlete. Representing China at the 2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics comp ...

also walked 4:13:28 (2018). * Johana Ordóñez also walked 4:14:28 (2018). * Monica Svensson also walked 4:14:38 (2009). *

Klavdiya Afanasyeva Klavdiya Afanasyeva (russian: Клавдія Афанасьєва; born 15 January 1996) is a Russian racewalker. She won gold medals in the European U20 and U23 championships in the 10,000 m race walk and 20 km race walk respectively. Though ...

also walked 4:14:46 (2018). *

Li Maocuo Li Maocuo (born 20 October 1992) is a Chinese racewalking athlete. Representing China at the 2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics compe ...

also walked 4:14:47 (2018). *

Mirna Ortíz Mirna Sucely Ortiz Flores (born 28 February 1987) is a Guatemalan racewalker. Having begun in the sport in 1998, she won a Central American youth title in 2000, and was a promising young athlete in her discipline, but due to financial hardship ...

also walked 4:15:21 (2019).

Olympic medalists

Men’s

World Championships medalists

Men’s

Women’s

Notes

References

External links

50 kilometres race walk all time – men
from IAAF
IAAF list of 50-kilometres-race-walk records in XML
{{Athletics events Racewalking distances Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics