Race walking at the 2024 Olympics in Paris: rules, distances and courses

Introduced at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, race walking was initially exclusive to men. It wasn’t until the 1992 Barcelona Olympics that the first women’s race walking event took place, won by Chinese athlete Chen Yueling.

The exciting part is that in 2024, for the first time in the Games’ history, alongside the traditional 20km race walk, there will be a new addition—the race walk mixed teams. This will be the first time teams of one male and one female athlete will compete together, adding an extra level of excitement to the event. The race walk mixed teams will cover the marathon distance (42.195 km).

2024 Paris Olympics: Race walking rules

Race walking is a unique discipline that displays competing athletes walking with a strict rule to keep one foot in contact with the ground at all times, without any running. This event is often held on roads, with the course designed as a loop to allow spectators to support the athletes as they pass by.

Disqualification

When seven red cards from seven different judges are submitted to the chief judge for athletes on the same team, the team will be disqualified. The chief judge will notify them of this disqualification by showing a red paddle.

Penalty zone

Once their team has received three red cards, an athlete will be required to enter the penalty zone and remain there for three minutes.

As advised by the chief judge, an athlete will be required to enter the penalty zone for an additional minute for each additional red card thereafter.

The applicable period in the penalty zone shall be as follows:

The athlete must comply with the rule even if the chief judge receives a red card while another team member is on the course.Takeover zone

Runners must start changing lanes 10 meters before reaching the scratch line and must finish the lane change 10 meters after crossing the line. During the lane change, the incoming and outgoing athletes should make physical contact, unless the organizers say otherwise.

2024 Paris Olympics: Race walking distances

Men’s 20km race walk

The men’s 20km race walk will start the Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletics program. It will feature several global medallists and some of the fastest athletes ever. There will be no gentle easing as the world’s best race for the first 48 titles on offer in the French capital.

Massimo Stano will defend his title, Alvaro Martin lines up as the world champion, Koki Ikeda starts as the world leader with the third-fastest performance in history, and Perseus Karlstrom aims to build on his World Race Walking Team Championships win in Antalya. If any of these athletes falter, many other contenders are ready to step up in the event that will be held on the Pont d’Alene, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.

Women’s 20km race walk

Multiple global champions will participate in the women’s 20km race walk. Antonella Palmisano will defend her title, while Kimberly Garcia will aim to add her first Olympic medal to her two 2022 world titles. Maria Perez, a double world champion, continues her comeback after an injury and hopes to improve upon her fourth-place finish in Sapporo three years ago. Additionally, the 2016 Olympic champion and four-time world gold medallist, Liu Hong aims to add to her impressive list of achievements.

The women’s 20km race walk was added to the Olympic program in 2000, and athletes from four nations won gold at that time, with Italy being the latest through Palmisano in Sapporo. The 32-year-old finished fourth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, obtained world bronze in 2017 and earned a bronze medal in Budapest last year. Her most recent victory was at the European title, held in Rome in front of home fans. Before that, she secured a third-place finish at the Podebrady Walking meeting, where she clocked 1:27:27 – the third-fastest time of her career – finishing behind Garcia and Glenda Morejon.

Marathon race walk mixed relay

The marathon race walk mixed relay will be making its Olympic debut in Paris after gaining attention from the World Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya last April. The event is scheduled for 7 August, six days following the individual 20km race walk events during the start of the athletics competitions at the Games. This mixed relay will consist of 25 teams, each comprised of one man and one woman, who will complete the marathon distance of 42.195km in four legs of approximately equal distance.

Each athlete will take on two legs, with each leg being just over 10km. The order will be: man (11.45km), woman (10km), man (10km), and woman (10.745km). The event will take place on the same course as the individual events, situated at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

In Paris, 22 teams qualified via the World Race Walking Team Championships, and three qualified from the world’s top lists. Up to five of the 22 qualifying teams in Antalya could be a second team from the same country. Furthermore, Japan, Spain, Australia, China, and Colombia each qualified two teams.