A look back at the key moments of 2021 in the race walks

2021 review: race walks

The long and successful career of Spanish race walking great Jesus Angel Garcia has been celebrated at a surprise event held following his retirement from competitive athletics.
The 51-year-old had announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would be his last and he hangs up his race walking shoes with a remarkable eight Olympic appearances to his name &ndash; a record tally for athletics.
He also holds the record for the most appearances at the World Athletics Championships having competed at 13 editions, from his winning debut in Stuttgart in 1993 through to Doha in 2019, when he placed eighth.
&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m the Peter Pan of race walking, eternally young,&rdquo; he joked in 2014. &ldquo;Perhaps one day I&rsquo;ll wake up and realise that I&rsquo;m old, but I haven&rsquo;t yet.
&ldquo;I love this sport, that&rsquo;s what has kept me competing for more than 20 years, race walking and athletics in general is in my veins.&rdquo; 
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<h2 style="text-align: center; padding-bottom: 0.5em; color: #ff873c;">Most appearances in athletics</h2>
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<h3><img style="width: 150px; height: 150px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/556997e3-fbe2-4efe-a1fb-124a0d17e720.jpg?cachebuster=a8b31657-6b8d-49c6-9401-34fdbab3ca2b" align="right" />Olympic Games</h3>
8 Jesus Angel Garcia 7 Merlene Ottey 6 Lia Manoliu 6 Maria Mutola 6 Joao N'Tyamba 6 Tessa Sanderson 6 Dragutin Topic 6 Nicoleta Grasu
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<h3><img style="width: 150px; height: 150px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/b8a56c06-0615-4e46-b55c-5cc8e5155aac.jpg?cachebuster=8ea579cc-6ee0-4079-8d70-2459a825ed9d" align="right" />World Championships</h3>
13 Jesus Angel Garcia&nbsp; 11 Susana Feitor 11 Joao Vieira 10 Virgilijus Alekna 10 Kim Collins 10 Franka Dietzsch 10 Nicoleta Grasu
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 Garcia&rsquo;s international debut came at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he placed 10th in the 50km race walk in 3:58:43. He has raced at every Olympics since, placing fifth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and fourth at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Closing the curtain on his career at the Tokyo 2020 Games, Garcia finished 35th.
At the World Championships, Garcia followed his gold medal win in 1993 with treble silver &ndash; claimed in 1997, 2001 and 2009 &ndash; while he also placed fifth in 1995 and sixth in 2003. Then there was his eighth place finish at his final edition in Doha, where he became &shy;&ndash; at 49 years and 346 days &ndash; the oldest participant in World Athletics Championships history.
He won the 50km event at the World Race Walking Cup in Podebrady in 1997, two years after his runner-up finish in Beijing, while his career record also includes two European medals &ndash; silver from 2006 and bronze from 2002 &ndash; plus PBs of 3:39:54 for the 50km race walk and 1:23:00 for the 20km race walk. 
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<h2 style="text-align: center; padding-bottom: 0.5em; color: #ff873c;">Garcia's major championships record</h2>
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<h3><img style="width: 150px; height: 150px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/671b0f30-165f-496c-9858-71da2cda7708.png?cachebuster=09386ccf-d232-4b91-a47e-f876dc595f89" align="right" />Olympic Games</h3>
Barcelona 1992 &ndash; 10th Atlanta 1996 &ndash; DNF Sydney 2000 &ndash; 12th Athens 2004 &ndash; 5th Beijing 2008 &ndash; 4th London 2012 &ndash; 17th Rio 2016 &ndash; 20th Tokyo 2021 &ndash; 35th
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<h3><img style="width: 150px; height: 150px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/511a2daf-4438-436b-9719-ac06e96796d6.png?cachebuster=80435d6a-4a8a-4dc3-af31-af01accfd82f" align="right" />World Championships</h3>
Stuttgart 1993 &ndash; 1st Gothenburg 1995 &ndash; 5th Athens 1997 &ndash; 2nd Seville 1999 &ndash; DNF Edmonton 2001 &ndash; 2nd Paris 2003 &ndash; 6th Helsinki 2005 &ndash; DQ Osaka 2007 &ndash; DQ Berlin 2009 &ndash; 2nd Daegu 2011 &ndash; DQ Moscow 2013 &ndash; 11th Beijing 2015 &ndash; 9th Doha 2019 &ndash; 8th
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 &ldquo;I have no words to express what I feel right now after this surprise,&rdquo; said Garcia at the tribute event on Monday (4). &ldquo;I am eternally grateful and eternally responsible to give back to sport all that it has given me.
&ldquo;I feel a lot of responsibility. I want to transmit all of my experience to the new generations. My goal is to accompany the Olympians in the short term in Paris 2024, that's what my commitment is going to be.&rdquo;
His retirement from elite athletics will also give Garcia the opportunity to continue his coaching and chiropody careers.
&ldquo;You are going to become a legend of Spanish sports,&rdquo; said Spanish Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco. &ldquo;Beyond all the tributes and recognitions, what you have achieved is that society understands that when you have a dream, no matter how wild that dream is, it can be achievable.&rdquo;
World Athletics

The long and successful career of Spanish race walking great Jesus Angel Garcia has been celebrated at a surprise event held following his retirement from competitive athletics.

Recently retired race walking great Garcia honoured with surprise tribute

Beating the heat, a loaded field and his own inexperience, Dawid Tomala battled his way to a surprise victory in the 50km race walk in Sapporo on Friday (6) to secure the fourth athletics gold medal for Poland at these Olympic Games.
Tomala, who was contesting the distance for just the third time, made his decisive break from the field as he approached the 30th kilometre and was never threatened en route to his victory in 3:50:08.
It was the slowest winning time since 1972, but given the conditions &ndash; 25.7&deg;C at the start at 5:30am, with relative humidity at 79%, to&nbsp;33&deg;C and 55% humidity by 8:30am and 35&deg;C by 9:00am &ndash; a fast time was never in the cards. That stat certainly didn&rsquo;t matter to Tomala.
"It was an amazing day for me. I can&rsquo;t believe it," said the 31-year-old, whose only recorded performance over the distance came in Dudince, Slovakia, in March when he clocked 3:49:23. He made his 50km debut in the Dudince race in 2017 but did not finish.
"The first 30 kilometres was so easy for me,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;It was&nbsp;easy, like (a)&nbsp;slow training (session). Everything was amazing, Too perfect. So I was thinking maybe we can do something."
Luo Yadong of China, the fifth-place finisher at the 2019 World Championships, took control with a surge of his own early on, covering the opening 10 kilometres in 47:57, 35 seconds ahead of a 12-man chase pack that included Tomala and teammate Artur Brzozowski, Japan's Satoshi Maruo and Masatora Kawano and defending champion Matej Toth.
The Chinese national champion forged on but began running out of steam in the 19th kilometre, saw his lead reduced to one second at 20km (1:35:04) and finally drifted back behind the leaders at 22 kilometres.
Germany's Jonathan Hilbert was walking at the front, along with Toth and Tomala who were leading a 17-man lead pack that was strung out over about 15 metres.
About 1:50 into the race, Tomala took his first turn at the front, upping the tempo to build a three-second lead but soon drifted back. He wasn't yet quite ready for what was to come.
Finn Veli-Matti Partanen led through the midway point in 1:58:16, surging into a brief lead ahead of Tomala, Havard Haukenes of Norway, Maruo and Kawano, Hilbert, Toth and China's Wang Qin. Rhydian Cowley of Australia led another chase group of seven who were racing a further two seconds back.
Then Tomala made what would be his decisive move. &ldquo;The 50km is so boring, I (had) to do something,&rdquo; he would later explain with a laugh. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610cc691f1150570dcacab02.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 After taking turns with the lead a few more times, he surged ahead to build a nine second lead at 30 kilometres (2:21:21), ahead of some 15 challengers that now made up the chase pack.
He then was transformed into the proverbial man on a mission.
He stretched the nine-second lead he had at 30km to a whopping 1:46 five kilometres later, crossing the 35km mark in 2:42:34 while a dozen men vied to remain in contention in the chase pack.
He kept padding his lead with every passing two-kilometre lap, extending it to 2:27 at 38 kilometres, 2:50 at 40 (3:03:45), to three minutes at 42 and 3:11 at 44.
His surge, pace and the rising temperatures began to take their toll and his lead began to unravel. But in the end it wouldn't break him.
With two kilometres remaining he was 2:03 ahead of Hilbert and Spaniard Marc Tur who were seemingly locked into a stride-for-stride battle for silver. And by the time he reached the finish, he was still a comfortable 36 seconds ahead of Hilbert, who shook off Tur in the final kilometre to finish runner-up.
Canada's Evan Dunfee, who was fourth in Rio five years ago, passed Tur in the waning metres to take the bronze in 3:50:59.
&ldquo;My body gave me everything today. It is more than I could ever ask for,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of what I accomplished today, but&nbsp;I have been dreaming of this&nbsp;moment and winning this medal for&nbsp;21 years.&nbsp;I am over the moon."
Tur held on to finish fourth nine seconds later, with 45-year-old Joao Vieira of Portugal, the silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships, next in 3:51:28.
Kawano (3:51:56) and Bian Tongda (3:52:01) were next, the first Japanese and Chinese athletes across the line. Australia&rsquo;s Cowley finished eighth in 3:52:01, the only walker to achieve a personal best in the race.
Jesus Angel Garcia of Spain clocked 4:10:03 to finish 35th at age 51 to cap his eighth Olympic appearance, a record for athletics.
Forty-seven of the 59 starts finished - 10 did not finish and two others were disqualified. Among the DNFs was world record-holder Yohann Diniz who struggled with hip, thigh and back pain before finally stepping off the course in the 27th kilometre.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
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<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 50km RACE WALK MEDALLISTS</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Dawid Tomala 🇵🇱 POL</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">3:50:08</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Jonathan Hilbert 🇩🇪 GER</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">3:50:44</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Evan Dunfee 🇨🇦 CAN</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">3:50:59</td>
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<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/50-kilometres-race-walk/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
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&nbsp;

Beating the heat, a loaded field and his own inexperience, Dawid Tomala battled his way to a surprise victory in the 50km race walk in Sapporo on Friday to secure the fourth athletics gold medal for Poland at these Olympic Games.

Tomala wins surprise Olympic 50km race walk gold in Sapporo

<h2>Men's 20km race walk</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=20KR&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/20-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/20km-race-walking/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/race-walks/20-kilometres-race-walk/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/race-walks/20-kilometres-race-walk/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/race-walks/20-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Of all the athletics disciplines on the Olympic programme, the men&rsquo;s 20km race walk presents the host nation with the best chance of a gold medal.
In fact, such is their strength and depth in this event, it wouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise to see a Japanese sweep of the podium.
Since winning the world title in Doha two years ago, world champion Tashikazu Yamanishi has raced sparingly but has maintained the winning streak he started back in March 2019. The incredibly consistent 25-year-old has a best of 1:17:15, which puts him fifth on the world all-time list, and has bettered 1:18 on five occasions &ndash; more than any other race walker in history.
In his only 20km race last year, he won the hotly contested Japanese Championships by 91 seconds. He successfully defended that title this year, clocking 1:17:20 and winning by 44 seconds.
In both races, Koki Ikeda and Eiki Takahashi occupied the other podium spots, effectively securing their places on the Japanese Olympic team in the process. They are also the last two men to beat Yamanishi, back in February 2019.
Ikeda, who won the 20km at the 2018 World Race Walking Team Championships, has a best of 1:17:25 and finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships. Takahashi&rsquo;s PB is just one second slower and he finished 10th in Doha two years ago. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/602a4cf86444595a56b45dd8.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 While a Japanese sweep is possible, it is by no means a guarantee in such a highly competitive field.
World bronze medallist Perseus Karlstrom has won seven of his past eight races over 20km, most of them against quality international opposition. He set a Swedish record of 1:18:07 in 2019, and in 2020 he won 11 of his 12 races. Sweden has never won an Olympic medal in the men&rsquo;s 20km race walk, but Karlstrom could be the athlete to end that drought.
China has won the past two Olympic titles in this discipline. Although neither 2012 winner Chen Ding nor 2016 champion Wang Zhen will be in Sapporo, the Chinese team is still a strong one.
Wang Kaihua smashed the Chinese record earlier this year with a world-leading 1:16:54, putting him third on the world all-time list. He started the 2017 season in similar style, though, and wound up in seventh place at the World Championships later that year. He was China&rsquo;s top finisher again at the 2019 World Championships, placing eighth.
He is joined on the Chinese team by 2016 Olympic silver medallist Cai Zelin and 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships U20 winner Zhang Jun, both of whom have set PBs of 1:17:39 earlier this year.
Authorised neutral athlete Vasiliy Mizinov took silver in Doha and could be in medal contention again in Sapporo. He clocked 1:18:45 in Sochi earlier this year, but in his one race outside of Russia this year, he was a well-beaten second to Germany&rsquo;s Hagen Pohle in Alytus.
Pohle won&rsquo;t be in Sapporo, but in Christopher Linke Germany has a genuine medal hope. Linke, who holds the German record of 1:18:42, finished fourth at the World Championships in Doha and fifth at the Olympics in Rio.
Look for Salih Korkmaz to feature at the front of the pack in the early stages. The 24-year-old Turk likes to push the pace from the front, which sometimes works well &ndash; as it did when he set a national record of 1:18:42 earlier this year &ndash; but sometimes he struggles to maintain the tempo and gets caught by the chase pack.
Spain has selected a strong squad in this event, comprising 2015 world champion Miguel Angel Lopez, European champion Alvaro Martin and European silver medallist Diego Garcia Carrera &ndash; who beat Karlstrom in La Coruna last month.
Others who will likely be in contention include 2017 world champion Eider Arevalo of Colombia, 2017 world bronze medallist Caio Bonfim of Brazil and British record-holder Tom Bosworth.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Women's 20km race walk</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=20KR&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/20-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/race-walking/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/race-walks/20-kilometres-race-walk/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/combined-events/heptathlon/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/race-walks/20-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
As was the case at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, there&rsquo;s every chance China could sweep the medals in the women&rsquo;s 20km race walk.
On that occasion, Liu Hong defied the harsh conditions to claim her third world title, less than two years after giving birth to her daughter Xixi, cementing her status as one of the all-time greats in the event.
Liu won in Rio five years ago and set a world record of 1:24:58 in 2015. She also holds the world record over 50km and was the first woman to crack four hours for the discipline. The 34-year-old will aim to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic race walk titles.
But teammate Yang Jiayu will be a formidable opponent. The 2017 world champion cruised to a world record of 1:23:49 earlier this year, smashing Liu&rsquo;s mark by 49 seconds. Liu finished a distant second in that race but was rewarded with a PB of 1:24:27, faster than her previous world record. She&rsquo;ll be keen to make amends for her performance at the 2019 World Championships, where she was disqualified on the last lap after moving into a medal position. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/17f4757e-ac81-403e-ad4a-909a710603f7.jpg?cachebuster=6f0fc091-66e9-4929-90f3-90e5dc324dfe" alt="" width="950" height="570" />
 Qieyang Shijie was third in Yang&rsquo;s world record race in 1:24:45, a mark that puts her fourth on the world all-time list. Although she has never won a global title or broken a world record like her two teammates, Qieyang is a consistent championships performer. She earned world bronze back in 2011, Olympic silver in 2012 and world silver in 2019.
No country has ever swept the medals in the women&rsquo;s race walks at the Olympics. Similarly, no Asian nation has achieved a medal sweep at the Games. China could make history on both counts in Sapporo, but all it takes is one athlete to drop out &ndash; either through disqualification, fatigue or injury &ndash; and the plan is scuppered.
Brazil&rsquo;s Erica de Sena finished fourth at the two most recent World Championships. The 36-year-old, who holds the national record of 1:26:59, will be desperate to finally make it on to a global championships podium.
Sandra Arenas finished right behind De Sena at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Before heading to Sapporo, the Colombian achieved a confidence-boosting victory in La Coruna.
Glenda Morejon is another South American prospect. The Ecuadorian clocked a stunning 1:25:29 at the age of 19 on her 20km debut back in 2019, beating Liu in the process. She hasn&rsquo;t come within four minutes of that mark since, but the 21-year-old is undeniably a huge talent.
The host nation is well represented by Kumiko Okada and Nanako Fujii. The duo worked as a team at the 2019 World Championships, eventually finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Okada, the more experienced of the two, holds the national record at 1:27:41, while Fujii has a best of 1:28:58.
Italy&rsquo;s Antonella Palmisano finished just outside the medals in Rio five years ago but went on to take bronze at the World Championships one year later in a national record of 1:26:36. In her one race of the year so far, the 29-year-old won convincingly at the European Team Championships in Podebrady in 1:27:42.
Eleonora Giorgi, the world 50km bronze medallist, adds further strength to the Italian team. Although she has focused on longer distances in recent years, the 31-year-old is still competitive over 20km. Her main focus will be to avoid getting disqualified, as has happened to her at three major championships.
Australia's Commonwealth champion Jemima Montag has improved to 1:28:50 this year, meaning she is a couple of minutes faster than she was heading into the 2019 World Championships, where she placed 10th. Another top-10 finish beckons.
Spain&rsquo;s European champion Maria Perez, authorised neutral athlete Elvira Khasanova and Mexico&rsquo;s Alegna Gonzalez should all feature in the lead pack.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 50km race walk</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=50KR&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/50-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/50km-race-walking/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/race-walks/50-kilometres-race-walk/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/race-walks/50-kilometres-race-walk/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/race-walks/50-kilometres-race-walk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
When it was announced last month that world champion Yusuke Suzuki stepped down from Japan&rsquo;s Olympic team, it threw the men&rsquo;s 50km race walk wide open.
The 20km world record-holder stepped up in distance two years ago and dominated the 50km event in Doha, becoming the first Japanese athlete to win a global race-walking title. But, citing a lack of form, Suzuki announced in June that he won&rsquo;t compete in Sapporo.
That&rsquo;s not to say the race will be lacking in quality, though, as defending champion Matej Toth will duel with world record-holder Yohann Diniz.
The last time both men completed a 50km race in which they clashed was at the 2016 Olympic Games where, in an enthralling race, Toth broke away in the latter stages to win in 3:40:58. Diniz, who led during the early stages before stopping several times with all manner of struggles, eventually finished a respectable eighth.
Diniz, now 43, hasn&rsquo;t raced since the 2019 World Championships, where he did not finish. Toth was also a DNF on that occasion, but the 38-year-old Slovak race walker returned to action in 2020 and clocked 3:41:15, a world-leading time for the season.
Seven years have passed since Diniz broke the world record with 3:32:33 to win the 2014 European title, but he need not be at his absolute best to be in medal contention. As recently as 2019 he clocked 3:37:43, a time that is faster than the PBs of most entrants heading to Sapporo. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/60c57185-8ca4-4605-aa3a-2ca3f639372a.jpg?cachebuster=05db7014-317e-402e-b15c-dabdbd34a09d" alt="" width="950" height="570" />
 But if recent results from Japan are anything to go by, the host nation&rsquo;s team will ensure the race in Sapporo will be a punishing war of attrition.
Masatora Kawano set a blistering pace in Takahata at the end of 2019, passing through half way inside sub-3:35 pace. The tempo dropped only slightly in the second half and he went on to win in 3:36:45, smashing Suzuki&rsquo;s national record to book his spot on Japan&rsquo;s Olympic team.
Satoshi Maruo finished second in that race in 3:37:39, but had to prove his form at the National Championships in 2021 in order to secure his spot on the team. He duly won in 3:38:42, finishing almost four minutes ahead of the rest of the field. The 29-year-old finished just outside the medals at the 2017 World Championships, so will be highly motivated to make it on to the podium in Sapporo.
Hayato Katsuki, who finished second to Maruo at the National Championships in a PB of 3:42:34, was drafted into Japan&rsquo;s team as Suzuki&rsquo;s replacement.
One athlete who knows how to perform in punishing conditions is Evan Dunfee. The Canadian prepared meticulously well for the World Championships in Doha and, with an impressive late-race charge, was rewarded with the bronze medal.
He has been in superb form so far this year, setting Canadian records for 5000m and 10,000m with world-leading marks of 18:39.08 and 38:39.72 respectively.
Portugal&rsquo;s Joao Vieira held on for the silver medal in Doha, becoming, at age 43, the oldest ever medallist at the World Championships. Now aged 45, he heads to Sapporo for what will be his sixth Olympics and will be hopeful of improving on his 10th-place finish from 2004, his best performance at the Games to date.
Somewhat incredibly, however, Vieira won&rsquo;t be the oldest or most experienced in the field. Spain&rsquo;s 1993 world champion Jesus Angel Garcia will be competing at his eighth Olympics &ndash; a record tally of appearances for athletics.
The 51-year-old, who has competed at every Olympics since 1992, is still competitive, as shown by his eighth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships.
Spain&rsquo;s best hopes could rest with Marc Tur, who won at the European Team Championships in Podebrady in 3:47:40.
China&rsquo;s trio should also be competitive. Luo Yadong, a 3:41:15 performer at best, finished fifth at the 2019 World Championships and won the Chinese 50km title earlier this year. Asian Games silver medallist Wang Qin, who has a PB of 3:38:02, is the fastest race walker on China&rsquo;s team, but he did not finish in Doha, nor in his most recent 50km race. Bian Tongda, meanwhile, will be contesting his first global championships.
If Andres Chocho can avoid a disqualification &ndash; he has notched up eight from his 12 major championships appearances over 50km &ndash; he could be in contention.
Other contenders include Ireland&rsquo;s World Championships fourth-place finisher Brendan Boyce, Australia&rsquo;s much-improved Rhydian Cowley, European champion Maryan Zakalnytskyy of Ukraine, Norway&rsquo;s Havard Haukenes, German duo Jonathan Hilbert and Carl Dohmann, and Guatemalan brothers Erick and Bernardo Barrondo.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the 20km and 50km race walks

Tokyo Olympics preview: race walks

Every athlete has a story.

100 ones to watch in Tokyo: race walks

With little more than eight weeks to go before athletics action gets under way at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the fields for the longest road events on the programme are taking shape.
The qualification period for marathons and the 50km race walk closed on 31 May. The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/stats-zone/road-to/7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Road to the Olympic Games tool on the World Athletics website</a> shows which athletes &ndash; subject to being officially selected by their national Olympic committee &ndash; have qualified to compete in those disciplines in Japan.
Athletes could qualify in the marathon by either achieving the entry standard (2:11:30 for men, 2:29:30 for women), or by placing in the top 10 at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 or in Platinum Label marathons, or in the top five at Gold Label marathons.
Both marathons had a target number of 80 athletes, but a larger number of athletes have fulfilled the qualifying criteria and will compete in Sapporo, the host of the Olympic road events. In the men&rsquo;s field 110 athletes have qualified (maximum three per nation) and in the women&rsquo;s field 103 have qualified.
The entry standard for the men&rsquo;s 50km race walk is 3:50:00. The target number is 60 athletes (maximum three per nation) and 38 athletes have met the entry standard, leaving 22 places for athletes who qualify by world ranking.
"It's exciting to see the athletes in our longest distance events complete their qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "This is a considerable achievement in our sport and I congratulate all those who have met the standard. We&rsquo;re pleased to see that the qualifying process, which was suspended during the first part of the pandemic but ultimately extended to give more athletes the opportunity to qualify, has been a success.
"We still have nearly a month to go in the qualification period for other events, but our tracking suggests that about 70 percent of athletes in most events will qualify by entry standard. This is above the 50 percent rate we aimed for in devising the system, but we believe this is due to the extended qualifying period created after the postponement of the Olympic Games from 2020 to 2021."
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/stats-zone/road-to/7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Road to Tokyo tool</a>, updated today, shows all qualified athletes in bold as follows: - Qualified by entry standard - Qualified by designated competition (marathon only) - In world rankings quota (50km race walk only) - Accepted universality place
The Road to Tokyo tool identifies the first three qualifiers per nation but any athlete who has qualified can be selected within the limit of three per nation.
Athletes from North Korea are not included as this country has confirmed it will not attend the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Several places in the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-relays/silesia21/news/press-releases/global-championships-tokyo-olympics-oregon-relays-silesia-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relay disciplines were claimed at the recent World Athletics Relays Silesia 21</a>.
Athletes in other disciplines have until 29 June to either achieve a qualification standard or place high enough in the world rankings to earn a place within the quota.
World Athletics

With little more than eight weeks to go before athletics action gets under way at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the fields for the longest road events on the programme are taking shape.

Olympic qualification period ends for marathons and 50km race walk

Kenya&rsquo;s Angela Tanui and Eric Kiptanui claimed victory at the Xiamen Marathon and Tuscany Camp Global Elite Race in Siena on Sunday (11), with Tanui breaking the Italian all-comers' record with 2:20:08 at the specially-organised elite-only event.
Held as an opportunity for athletes to achieve qualifying marks for the Olympic Games in Tokyo &ndash; with co-operation from the Italian Athletics Federation, World Athletics and the Xiamen Marathon, which was unable to welcome overseas entrants to race this weekend due to pandemic restrictions &ndash; the event saw athletes compete on a roughly 5km loop course around the roads of the Siena-Ampugnano Airport.&nbsp;
Despite the rain and wind, 2018 Venice Marathon winner&nbsp;Tanui took more than five minutes off her PB to improve the Italian all-comers' best which had previously been Vivian Kiplagat&rsquo;s 2:22:25 set in Milan in 2019.
Kiptanui achieved the second-quickest men&rsquo;s time ever run on Italian soil, clocking 2:05:47 to improve on his previous best of 2:06:17 run in Dubai in 2020. Only Titus Ekiru with 2:04:46, also run in Milan in 2019, has gone quicker for the distance in Italy.
A group of 13 athletes featured in the lead women&rsquo;s group which passed 4850m in 16:24 and the pack remained 12 strong by 14,910m, passed in 50:18.&nbsp;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Rahma Tusa, Gebiyanesh Gedamu and Haven Hailu Desse were among those to the fore along with Tanui at halfway, with the 22,470m mark passed by that lead group in 1:15:19.
By 30km a group of four athletes was breaking away, with Tanui joined by her fellow Kenyans Gladys Chepkirui and Delvine Meringor, plus Gedamu. Tanui made a break and continued to move ahead over the final 10km, eventually winning by more than two-and-a-half minutes from her compatriot Purity Changwony, who came through to finish second in a PB of 2:22:46. Gedamu was third in 2:23:23 and Desse fourth in 2:23:52 as the top six went sub-2:25.
South Africa&rsquo;s Gerda Steyn broke the long-standing national record with 2:25:28 in ninth, while 2013 world silver medallist Valeria Straneo was the top Italian in 20th&nbsp;and finished a minute outside the Olympic qualifying time with 2:30:33.
In the men&rsquo;s race, a large group of 37 athletes went through 4850m in 14:23 and 26 were together at halfway, with 22,470m passed in 1:06:42.
The leaders hit 30km in 1:29:38 before Kiptanui and Ethiopia's Abdi Fufa Nigassa made a move with less than 5km remaining.
Kiptanui &ndash; the 2020 Dubai Marathon runner-up &ndash; kicked ahead to win by 10 seconds from Nigassa with 2:05:57, as Morocco&rsquo;s Othmane El Goumri improved his PB to 2:06:18 in third. Yohanes Ghebregergis of Eritrea finished fourth in 2:06:28 and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Wami Kebede Tulu fifth in 2:06:32 as nine athletes finished inside 2:07 and 20 went sub-2:09.
Germany&rsquo;s Richard Ringer took more than two minutes off his PB with 2:08:49 to finish 17th, while Italy&rsquo;s Stefano La Rosa was 30th&nbsp;in 2:11:42, just 12 seconds outside of the Olympic qualifying mark.
<h3>Maruo secures Olympic spot</h3>
Satoshi Maruo won the battle for Olympic Games selection on Sunday (11), securing the last remaining place on Japan&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 50km race walk team by winning the national event in Wajima in 3:38:42.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6072de7a150fd9fadac0c56c.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="534" /> Satoshi Maruo wins at the 2021 Japanese 50km Race Walking Championships&nbsp;(&copy;&nbsp;JAAF)
 With two team places already decided, athletes had been racing to join Yusuke Suzuki and Masatora Kawano at the home Olympics this summer and intentions were clear from the start. The leaders went through 10km in 44:25 and the pace picked up further as Tomohiro Noda led through 20km in 1:27:18.
Noda and Maruo &ndash; who finished seventh and fourth respectively in the Japanese Race Walking Championships over 20km in February &ndash; had broken away by the halfway point, which they passed in 1:48:16, with 2017 world bronze medallist Kai Kobayashi behind them in third.
After a slight dip, the pace increased again and Noda created a gap on 2017 world fourth-placer Maruo but it was not sustained and Maruo made up ground as the pace slowed at around 38km, moving ahead around 41km into the race.
Behind him, 2018 Asian Games champion Hayato Katsuki was working his way through the field and first passed Kobayashi with around 4km remaining. One kilometre later he had moved into second place, with Kobayashi also passing Noda.
Remaining untroubled at the front, Maruo &ndash; who was contesting his first 50km race walk since 2019 when he set his 3:37:39 PB &ndash; held on to claim victory by almost four minutes.
Katsuki finished second in a PB of 3:42:34, with Kobayashi third in 3:43:31, Noda fourth in 3:45:26 and Isamu Fujisawa fifth in 3:46:27.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
Japanese 50km Race Walking Championships report&nbsp;with assistance from Evan Dunfee.

Kenya’s Angela Tanui and Eric Kiptanui claimed victory at the Xiamen Marathon and Tuscany Camp Global Elite Race in Siena on Sunday (11), with Tanui breaking the Italian all-comers' record with 2:20:08 at the specially-organised elite-only event.

Tanui breaks Italian all-comers' record in Siena

Jared Tallent, Australia's four-time Olympic and three-time world race walk medallist, has announced his retirement from competitive athletics.
With his 50km race walk gold claimed at the London 2012 Games together with his silver medals in the same event in 2008 and 2016, plus bronze achieved in the 20km race walk in Beijing, Tallent is Australia&rsquo;s most decorated male Olympic track and field athlete. The 36-year-old&rsquo;s impressive medal haul from a 13-year international career also features six World Race Walking Cup medals and two Commonwealth Games medals, including a gold won in New Delhi in 2010.
Tallent had hoped to extend his career to include a fourth Olympic Games, but injury put paid to his qualification hopes.
&ldquo;I had planned for Tokyo to be my swansong, but I&rsquo;ve had a number of setbacks from an injury to my hamstring, with the latest one putting a halt to my final preparations for the Australian 50km Race Walking Championships this weekend,&rdquo; explained Tallent, who&nbsp;started race walking in his early teens and made his international championships debut at the World Youth Championships in Debrecen in 2001.
&ldquo;Unfortunately that was the last chance for me to qualify for Tokyo so it is with mixed emotion that I announce my retirement from elite sport.&rdquo;
With his silver secured in the 50km race walk and bronze in the 20km event, Tallent achieved a rare medal double when making his Olympic debut in 2008, becoming the first male Australian athlete to win two athletics medals at a single Olympic Games in more than a century.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m incredibly proud of what I&rsquo;ve achieved,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The medals I&rsquo;ve won at the Olympics are by far my highlight as they were beyond my wildest dreams when I started race walking all those years ago.
&ldquo;To go to an Olympics is an achievement, and then to go on to win three medals in a row in one event is something I&rsquo;ll never forget.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made long-lasting connections and friendships through athletics and I&rsquo;m grateful to take them away with me. In particular, I&rsquo;d like to thank my family and friends for their support and also my coaches over my career &ndash; Daryl Biggin, Brent Vallance and Adam Didyk &ndash; for the support and guidance they&rsquo;ve provided me along the way. I also want to thank Professor Louise Burke at the Australian Institute of Sport. Much of my success in London is because of the knowledge she shared with me. I really couldn&rsquo;t do it without that team.&rdquo;
Tallent's time of&nbsp;3:36:53, which he set when originally claiming silver at the London 2012 Games, is the Olympic 50km race walk record, while his PB for the 20km event is&nbsp;1:19:15 recorded in&nbsp;Hobart in 2010.
At the 2012 Olympics, and at several other major events, Tallent's medals were upgraded following the disqualification of athletes who were later found to have committed anti-doping rule violations.
World Athletics

Jared Tallent, Australia's four-time Olympic and three-time world race walk medallist, has announced his retirement from competitive athletics.

Australian race walk great Tallent announces retirement

World Athletics is saddened by the news that Bernd Kannenberg, the 1972 Olympic champion in the 50km race walk, died on Wednesday (13) at 78.
Born on 20 August, 1942 in K&ouml;nigsberg, Kannenberg didn't start high performance training as a race walker until 1969 at age 27. Just three years later, on 27 May 1972, he shattered the world record in the 50km race walk by nearly three minutes, clocking 3:52:45 in Bremen.
With the record in hand, Kannenberg started as favourite in the Munich Olympic final just over three months later on 3 September, where he faced the reigning European champion Veniamin Soldatenko of the Soviet Union. Kannenberg was aggressive from the outset, leading from the start, with Soldatenko in tow. He finally shook off his rival after 35 kilometres to finish unchallenged in 3:56:11, an Olympic record and the third fastest performance in history.
Kannenberg's victory came on what was to be dubbed "Golden Sunday" for the host nation in athletics. That same day, Klaus Wolfermann notched an upset victory over Janis Lusis of the Soviet Union to win the javelin and Hildegard Falck won the women's 800m title. Heide Ecker-Rosendahl took silver in the pentathlon behind Great Britain's Mary Peters.
Four days earlier, Kannenberg stumbled and fell in the 20km event just after the midway point, and decided to withdraw to conserve his energy for the longer race.&nbsp;
He competed in both events two years later at the European Championships, finishing second over the 20km distance and ninth over 50km. He made one more Olympic appearance, competing in the 50km race walk in 1976, but was forced to withdraw due to cramps.
He won six German race walk titles, three in the 20km (1972, 1974, 1975) and three in the 50km (1972, 1973, 1975) before chronic injuries forced him to finally retire in 1978.
In 1974 he received the Rudolf Harbig Memorial Prize, an annual honour recognising a track and field athlete who serves as an exemplary role model for young people.
World Athletics
&nbsp;
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World Athletics is saddened by the news that Bernd Kannenberg, the 1972 Olympic champion in the 50km race walk, died on Wednesday (13) at 78

Kannenberg, 1972 Olympic 50km race walk champion, dies

2020 review: race walks

World Athletics is deeply saddened by the news that Paul Nihill, the 1964 Olympic silver medallist in the 50km race walk, died on Tuesday (15) from the Coronavirus at a nursing in Kent, England. Nihill, a four-time Olympian and European champion over the 20km distance, was 81.
Born in the southeast English town of Colchester in 1939, just days before the outbreak of the second World War, Nihill had a difficult childhood, spending time in an orphanage and in convent care as his mother struggled to provide for her young son.&nbsp;
He left school at 15, but remained interested in sport, eventually taking up race walking after suffering a leg injury and answering <a href="https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/race-walking-legend-paul-nihill-dies-1039938576/">an athletics club advertisement in a newspaper</a> which asked, "Can you walk five miles in an hour?"
The solitude of heavy training suited him, a passion that led to an eventual Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 1964 where he finished second behind Italy's Abdon Pamich, the overwhelming favourite, clocking 4:11:31.2, 19 seconds behind the winner.
Nihill remained one of the world's finest walkers over the distance, winning 85 of 86 races between 1967 and 1970. The lone defeat during that period came at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City where, after walking among the leaders in the early stages, he succumbed to the city's heat and high altitude and collapsed in the 44th kilometre.
He then largely focused on the shorter 20km distance, winning the European title in 1969 and finishing third in 1971. He broke the world record in the event on 30 July 1972, clocking 1:24:50 in a race in Douglas, the capital of Isle of Man. A month late he made his third Olympic appearance, his first over 20km. Third through the midway point in the Munich race, he began to drift back a few kilometres later before finishing sixth, clocking 1:28:44.4. He also competed in the 50km event on 3 September, three days later, where he finished ninth in 4:14:09.4.
He competed at a fourth Olympic Games four years later in Montreal, finishing in 30th place.&nbsp;
Nihill remained active in the sport, competing well into his 70s.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Paul Nihill, a four-time Olympian and European champion in the 50km race walk, was 81.

Nihill, 1964 Olympic 50km race walk silver medallist, dies

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that former race walker Jorge Llopart, who won Spain&rsquo;s first ever Olympic medal in athletics, died on Wednesday (11) at the age of 68 after suffering a heart attack.
Llopart was European champion in 1978 and Olympic silver medallist in 1980, paving the way for a whole generation of world-beating Spanish race walkers. He represented his country at three Olympic Games, three World Championships and four European Championships.
Born in 1952 in the Catalonian municipality of El Prat de Llobregat, &lsquo;Jordi&rsquo; Llopart took up athletics at the age of 13, initially focusing on cross country and middle-distance events before moving to race walking towards the end of the 1960s.
Coached by his father Moises for most of his career, Llopart made his international debut in 1973, placing 16th over 20km in Gradisca d&rsquo;Isonzo in the qualifying round for the IAAF World Race Walking Cup. After winning his first national title over 20km in 1976, he moved up in distance and found he was better suited to the 50km event.
Llopart won the 50km race walk at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, becoming the first Spanish athlete to win a European title. His winning time of 3:53:30 was a Spanish record and championship record.
He improved in 1979 and clocked a European record of 3:44:33, becoming the second-fastest man in history at that point.
The highlight of his career came at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow where he was among the medal hopes, but Mexico&rsquo;s world record-holder Raul Gonzalez was considered the outright favourite. Gonzalez led for the first 20km but then started to fade before eventually dropping out. East Germany&rsquo;s Hartwig Gauder came through to take gold while Llopart finished second, earning Spain&rsquo;s first ever Olympic medal in athletics.
&ldquo;I achieved my goal because I know where my strengths lie,&rdquo; he told Spanish media after the race. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a Formula 1 car; I&rsquo;m a diesel engine.&rdquo;
Although Llopart didn&rsquo;t make it on to another major championships podium after 1980, he continued competing at a high level until the age of 40. He finished seventh at the 1984 Olympics and 13th in 1988. He also achieved top-10 finishes at the 1982 and 1986 European Championships.
He wasn&rsquo;t quite so fortunate at the World Championships, though. He finished 28th over 20km at the 1983 World Championships in history and then failed to finish in the 50km. In Rome four years later, he was disqualified just a few kilometres from the finish while in a medal position after being on course to set a lifetime best.
Llopart finished 17th at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, aged 39 at the time, in what was his final major championships appearance. He had hoped to bow out on home soil at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, but narrowly missed out on selection after finishing fourth in Spain&rsquo;s trial race. He still made it to the Games, though, and was one of the Olympic flag bearers at the opening ceremony.
After retiring, Llopart was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in 1994 and the Olympic Order in 1999. He was a founding partner and vice president of the Spanish Race Walking Association (AEMA) in 2004, and went on to work as a technical adviser to many national federations, including Mexico, Japan and the US. He was also involved in coaching some of Spain's leading race walkers, including 1993 world champion Jesus Angel Garcia.
Llopart had two daughters with his first wife, Maria del Carmen, and two daughters with his second wife, Lithuanian Olympic race walker Sonata Milusauskaite. Llopart remained active late in life and would walk for 30-45 minutes every morning along the Costa del Maresme in Canet del Mar where he lived.
"Everything started with Jordi Llopart," said European silver medallist Diego Garcia Carrera. "He paved the way for Spanish race walkers."
"Jorge was a great among the greats of athletics," added Spanish Federation President Raul Chapado. "Her lit our way out of the dark."
World Athletics

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that former race walker Jorge Llopart, who won Spain’s first ever Olympic medal in athletics, died on Wednesday (11) at the age of 68 after suffering a heart attack.