20 kilometres race walk

The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. 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.

Athletics 20 kilometre race walk
The men's 20 km race walk at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics
World records
Men	Toshikazu Yamanishi 1:16:10 (2025)
Women	Yang Jiayu 1:23:49 (2021)
Olympic records
Men	Chen Ding 1:18.46 (2012)
Women	Qieyang Shenjie 1:25:16 (2012)

World records

See also: Men's 20 kilometres walk world record progression and Women's 20 kilometres walk world record progression

The men's world record for the 20 km race walk is held by Yusuke Suzuki, who walked 1:16:36 at the Asian Race Walking Championships in his home town of Nomi, Japan. Suzuki's new World Record came exactly one week after Yohann Diniz's mark who walked a then record time of 1:17:02 in Arles at the 2015 French championships. The women's world record of 1:23:49 was set by Yang Jiayu of China in 2021. Russian Elena Lashmanova, has served a previous ban for doping, currently holds a quicker time of 1:23:39 which is also the European record, but it has never been ratified as a world record.

All-time top 25

Tables show data for two definitions of "Top 25" - the top 25 20km walk times and the top 25 athletes:

- denotes top performance for athletes in the top 25 20km walk times

- denotes lesser performances, still in the top 25 20km walk times, by repeat athletes

- denotes top performance (only) for other top 25 athletes who fall outside the top 25 20km walk times

Men

• Correct as of February 2025.^[1][2]

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	1:16:10	Toshikazu Yamanishi	Japan	16 February 2025	Kobe	[3]
2	2	1:16:36	Yusuke Suzuki	Japan	15 March 2015	Nomi
3	3	1:16:43	Sergey Morozov	Russia	8 June 2008	Saransk
4	4	1:16:51	Koki Ikeda	Japan	18 February 2024	Kobe	[4]
5	5	1:16:54	Kaihua Wang	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan	[5]
6	6	1:17:02	Yohann Diniz	France	8 March 2015	Arles
	7	1:17:15	Yamanishi #2		17 March 2019	Nomi	[6]
7	8	1:17:16	Vladimir Kanaykin	Russia	29 September 2007	Saransk
	9	1:17:20	Yamanishi #3		21 February 2021	Kobe
8	10	1:17:21	Jefferson Pérez	Ecuador	22 August 2003	Stade de France, Paris-St-Denis
9	11	1:17:22	Francisco Javier Fernandez	Spain	28 April 2002	Turku
10	12	1:17:23	Vladimir Stankin	Russia	28 February 2004	Adler, Sochi
	13	1:17:24	Diniz #2		15 March 2015	Lugano
11	13	1:17:24	Masatora Kawano	Japan	17 March 2019	Nomi	[7]
12	13	1:17:24	Satoshi Maruo	Japan	16 February 2025	Kobe	[8]
13	16	1:17:25	Sergey Shirobokov	Russia	9 June 2018	Cheboksary	[9]
	15	1:17:25	Ikeda#2	Japan	17 March 2019	Nomi	[10]
14	18	1:17:26	Eiki Takahashi	Japan	18 February 2018	Kobe
			Massimo Stano	Italy	3 March 2024	Taicang	[11]
			Jun Zhang	China	3 March 2024	Taicang	[12]
17	21	1:17:32	Álvaro Martín	Spain	19 August 2023	Budapest	[13]
18	22	1:17:33	Nathan Deakes	Australia	23 April 2005	Cixi City
	23	1:17:36	Kanaykin #2		17 June 2007	Cheboksary
19	24	1:17:36	Zhen Wang	China	30 March 2012	Taicang
	24	1:17:36	Yamanishi #4		18 February 2018	Kobe
20		1:17:37	Caio Bonfim	Brazil	16 February 2025	Kobe	[14]
21		1:17:38	Valeriy Borchin	Russia	28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
22		1:17:38	Kento Yoshikawa	Japan	16 February 2025	Kobe	[15]
23		1:17:39	Zelin Cai	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan	[16]
24		1:17:39	Perseus Karlström	Sweden	19 August 2023	Budapest	[17]
25		1:17:40	Ding Chen	China	30 March 2012	Taicang

Women

• Correct as of August 2023.^[18][19]

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	1:23:39	Yelena Lashmanova	Russia	9 June 2018	Cheboksary
2	2	1:23:49	Yang Jiayu	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan
3	3	1:24:27	Hong Liu	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan
	4	1:24:31	Lashmanova #2		18 February 2019	Sochi
	5	1:24:38	Liu #2		6 June 2015	La Coruna
4	6	1:24:45	Shijie Qieyang	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan
5	7	1:24:47	Elmira Alembekova	Russia	27 February 2015	Sochi
6	8	1:24:50	Olimpiada Ivanova	Russia	4 March 2001	Adler, Sochi
7	9	1:24:56	Olga Kaniskina	Russia	28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
	10	1:24:58	Lashmanova #3		25 June 2016	Cheboksary
8	11	1:25:03	Marina Novikova	Russia	27 February 2015	Sochi
9	12	1:25:04	Svetlana Vasilyeva	Russia	27 February 2015	Sochi
10	13	1:25:08	Vera Sokolova	Russia	26 February 2011	Sochi
	14	1:25:11	Kaniskina #2		23 February 2008	Adler, Sochi
11	14	1:25:11	Anisiya Kornikova-Kirdyapkina	Russia	20 February 2010	Sochi
12	16	1:25:12	Xiuzhi Lyu	China	20 March 2015	Beijing
	17	1:25:16	Qieyang #2		11 August 2012	Olympic Stadium, London
13	18	1:25:18	Tatyana Gudkova	Russia	19 May 2000	Moskva
	18	1:25:18	Lashmanova #4		18 February 2017	Sochi
14	20	1:25:20	Olga Polyakova	Russia	19 May 2000	Moskva
15	21	1:25:22	Yekaterina Medvedeva	Russia	18 February 2017	Sochi
	22	1:25:26	Sokolova #2		28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
			Kornikova-Kirdyapkina #2		28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
	24	1:25:27	Alembekova #2		18 February 2012	Sochi
16	25	1:25:29	Irina Stankina	Russia	19 May 2000	Moskva
			Glenda Morejón	Ecuador	8 June 2019	La Coruna
18		1:25:30	María Pérez	Spain	26 March 2023	Córdoba
19		1:25:32	Yelena Shumkina	Russia	28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
20		1:25:46	Tatyana Shemyakina	Russia	23 February 2008	Adler, Sochi
21		1:25:52	Larisa Yemelyanova	Russia	28 February 2009	Adler, Sochi
			Tatyana Sibileva	Russia	20 February 2010	Sochi
23		1:25:59	Tamara Kovalenko	Russia	19 May 2000	Moskva
			Liujing Yang	China	20 March 2021	Huangshan
25		1:26:11	Margarita Turava	Belarus	15 April 2006	Nesvizh

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1:26:11:

• Liu Hong also walked 1:25:46 (2012), 1:25:56 (2016, 2019), 1:26:00 (2012).
• Yelena Lashmanova also walked 1:25:41 (2021), 1:25:49 (2013).
• Olga Kaniskina also walked 1:25:42 (2008), 1:25:54 (2016), 1:26:02 (2006).
• Vera Sokolova also walked 1:25:35 (2010), 1:25:38 (2015), 1:26:00 (2013).
• Anisiya Kornikova-Kirdyapkina also walked 1:25:30 (2008), 1:25:59 (2013).
• Yang Jiayu also walked 1:25:34 (2019), 1:25:54 (2024).
• Shenjie Qieyang also walked 1:25:37 (2019).
• Olimpiada Ivanova also walked 1:25:41 (2005), 1:26:08 (2000).
• Lü Xiuzhi also walked 1:25:51 (2021).

The following athletes have had their performances (inside 1:26:11) annulled due to doping offence:

Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1:25:09	Olga Kaniskina	Russia	11 August 2012	London
1:25:59	Liu Hong	China	7 May 2016	Rome	[20]

Olympic medalists

Men

edit

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1956 Melbourne details	Leonid Spirin  Soviet Union	Antanas Mikėnas  Soviet Union	Bruno Junk  Soviet Union
1960 Rome details	Volodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union	Noel Freeman  Australia	Stan Vickers  Great Britain
1964 Tokyo details	Ken Matthews  Great Britain	Dieter Lindner  United Team of Germany	Volodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union
1968 Mexico City details	Volodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union	José Pedraza  Mexico	Nikolay Smaga  Soviet Union
1972 Munich details	Peter Frenkel  East Germany	Volodymyr Holubnychy  Soviet Union	Hans-Georg Reimann  East Germany
1976 Montreal details	Daniel Bautista  Mexico	Hans-Georg Reimann  East Germany	Peter Frenkel  East Germany
1980 Moscow details	Maurizio Damilano  Italy	Pyotr Pochynchuk  Soviet Union	Roland Wieser  East Germany
1984 Los Angeles details	Ernesto Canto  Mexico	Raúl González  Mexico	Maurizio Damilano  Italy
1988 Seoul details	Jozef Pribilinec  Czechoslovakia	Ronald Weigel  East Germany	Maurizio Damilano  Italy
1992 Barcelona details	Daniel Plaza  Spain	Guillaume LeBlanc  Canada	Giovanni De Benedictis  Italy
1996 Atlanta details	Jefferson Pérez  Ecuador	Ilya Markov  Russia	Bernardo Segura  Mexico
2000 Sydney details	Robert Korzeniowski  Poland	Noé Hernández  Mexico	Vladimir Andreyev  Russia
2004 Athens details	Ivano Brugnetti  Italy	Paquillo Fernández  Spain	Nathan Deakes  Australia
2008 Beijing details	Valeriy Borchin  Russia	Jefferson Pérez  Ecuador	Jared Tallent  Australia
2012 London details	Chen Ding  China	Érick Barrondo  Guatemala	Wang Zhen  China
2016 Rio de Janeiro details	Wang Zhen  China	Cai Zelin  China	Dane Bird-Smith  Australia
2020 Tokyo details	Massimo Stano  Italy	Koki Ikeda  Japan	Toshikazu Yamanishi  Japan
2024 Paris details	Brian Pintado  Ecuador	Caio Bonfim  Brazil	Álvaro Martín  Spain

Women

edit

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000 Sydney details	Wang Liping  China	Kjersti Plätzer  Norway	María Vasco  Spain
2004 Athens details	Athanasia Tsoumeleka  Greece	Olimpiada Ivanova  Russia	Jane Saville  Australia
2008 Beijing details	Olga Kaniskina  Russia	Kjersti Plätzer  Norway	Elisa Rigaudo  Italy
2012 London details	Qieyang Shenjie  China[21]	Liu Hong  China	Lü Xiuzhi  China
2016 Rio de Janeiro details	Liu Hong  China	María Guadalupe González  Mexico	Lü Xiuzhi  China
2020 Tokyo details	Antonella Palmisano  Italy	Sandra Arenas  Colombia	Liu Hong  China
2024 Paris details	Yang Jiayu  China	María Pérez  Spain	Jemima Montag  Australia

World Championships medalists

Men

Championships	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983 Helsinki details	Ernesto Canto (MEX)	Jozef Pribilinec (TCH)	Yevgeniy Yevsyukov (URS)
1987 Rome details	Maurizio Damilano (ITA)	Jozef Pribilinec (TCH)	Josep Marín (ESP)
1991 Tokyo details	Maurizio Damilano (ITA)	Mikhail Shchennikov (URS)	Yevgeniy Misyulya (URS)
1993 Stuttgart details	Valentí Massana (ESP)	Giovanni De Benedictis (ITA)	Daniel Plaza (ESP)
1995 Gothenburg details	Michele Didoni (ITA)	Valentí Massana (ESP)	Yevgeniy Misyulya (BLR)
1997 Athens details	Daniel García (MEX)	Mikhail Shchennikov (RUS)	Mikhail Khmelnitskiy (BLR)
1999 Seville details	Ilya Markov (RUS)	Jefferson Pérez (ECU)	Daniel García (MEX)
2001 Edmonton details	Roman Rasskazov (RUS)	Ilya Markov (RUS)	Viktor Burayev (RUS)
2003 Saint-Denis details	Jefferson Pérez (ECU)	Paquillo Fernández (ESP)	Roman Rasskazov (RUS)
2005 Helsinki details	Jefferson Pérez (ECU)	Paquillo Fernández (ESP)	Juan Manuel Molina (ESP)
2007 Osaka details	Jefferson Pérez (ECU)	Paquillo Fernández (ESP)	Hatem Ghoula (TUN)
2009 Berlin details	Valeriy Borchin (RUS)	Wang Hao (CHN)	Eder Sánchez (MEX)
2011 Daegu details	Luis Fernando López (COL)	Wang Zhen (CHN)	Kim Hyun-sub (KOR)
2013 Moscow details	Aleksandr Ivanov (RUS)	Chen Ding (CHN)	Miguel Ángel López (ESP)
2015 Beijing details	Miguel Ángel López (ESP)	Wang Zhen (CHN)	Benjamin Thorne (CAN)
2017 London details	Éider Arévalo (COL)	Sergey Shirobokov (ANA)	Caio Bonfim (BRA)
2019 Doha details	Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN)	Vasiliy Mizinov (ANA)	Perseus Karlström (SWE)
2022 Eugene details	Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN)	Koki Ikeda (JPN)	Perseus Karlström (SWE)
2023 Budapest details	Álvaro Martín (ESP)	Perseus Karlström (SWE)	Caio Bonfim (BRA)

Women

Championships	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1999 Seville details	Liu Hongyu (CHN)	Wang Yan (CHN)	Kerry Saxby-Junna (AUS)
2001 Edmonton details	Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)	Valentina Tsybulskaya (BLR)	Elisabetta Perrone (ITA)
2003 Saint-Denis details	Yelena Nikolayeva (RUS)	Gillian O'Sullivan (IRL)	Valentina Tsybulskaya (BLR)
2005 Helsinki details	Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)	Ryta Turava (BLR)	Susana Feitor (POR)
2007 Osaka details	Olga Kaniskina (RUS)	Tatyana Shemyakina (RUS)	María Vasco (ESP)
2009 Berlin details	Olga Kaniskina (RUS)	Olive Loughnane (IRL)	Liu Hong (CHN)
2011 Daegu details	Liu Hong (CHN)	Elisa Rigaudo (ITA)	Qieyang Shenjie (CHN)
2013 Moscow details	Liu Hong (CHN)	Sun Huanhuan (CHN)	Elisa Rigaudo (ITA)
2015 Beijing details	Liu Hong (CHN)	Lü Xiuzhi (CHN)	Lyudmyla Olyanovska (UKR)
2017 London details	Yang Jiayu (CHN)	Lupita González (MEX)	Antonella Palmisano (ITA)
2019 Doha details	Liu Hong (CHN)	Qieyang Shenjie (CHN)	Yang Liujing (CHN)
2022 Eugene details	Kimberly García (PER)	Katarzyna Zdziebło (POL)	Qieyang Shijie (CHN)
2023 Budapest details	María Pérez (ESP)	Jemima Montag (AUS)	Antonella Palmisano (ITA)

Season's bests

Men Rank Mark Athlete Place 2000 1:17:46  Roman Rasskazov (RUS) Moscow 2001 1:18:06  Viktor Burayev (RUS) Adler 2002 1:17:22  Paquillo Fernández (ESP) Turku 2003 1:17:21  Jefferson Pérez (ECU) Paris 2004 1:17:23  Vladimir Stankin (RUS) Adler 2005 1:17:33  Nathan Deakes (AUS) Cixi City 2006 1:18:17  Li Gaobo (CHN) Yangzhou 2007 1:17:16  Vladimir Kanaykin (RUS) Saransk 2008 1:16:43  Sergey Morozov (RUS) Saransk 2009 1:17:38  Valeriy Borchin (RUS) Adler 2010 1:18:24  Alex Schwazer (ITA) Lugano 2011 1:18:30  Wang Zhen (CHN) Taicang 2012 1:17:30  Alex Schwazer (ITA) Lugano 2013 1:18:34  Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) Nomi 2014 1:18:37  Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) Kobe 2015 1:16:36  Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) Nomi 2016 1:18:26  Eiki Takahashi (JPN) Kobe 2017 1:17:54  Wang Kaihua (CHN) Huangshan 2018 1:17:25  Sergey Shirobokov (RUS) Cheboksary 2019 1:17:15  Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN) Nomi 2020 1:17:36  Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN) Kobe

Women Rank Mark Athlete Place 2000 1:25:18  Tatyana Gudkova (RUS) Moscow 2001 1:24:50  Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS) Adler 2002 1:26:42  Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS) Munich 2003 1:26:22  Yelena Nikolayeva (RUS) Cheboksary 2004 1:26:46  Song Hongjuan (CHN) Guangzhou 2005 1:25:41  Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS) Helsinki 2006 1:26:02  Olga Kaniskina (RUS) Adler 2007 1:26:47  Olga Kaniskina (RUS) Saransk 2008 1:25:11  Olga Kaniskina (RUS) Adler 2009 1:24:56  Olga Kaniskina (RUS) Adler 2010 1:25:35  Vera Sokolova (RUS) Sochi 2011 1:25:08  Vera Sokolova (RUS) Sochi 2012 1:25:02  Yelena Lashmanova (RUS) London 2013 1:25:49  Yelena Lashmanova (RUS) Sochi 2014 1:26:31  Anisya Kirdyapkina (RUS) Taicang 2015 1:24:38  Liu Hong (CHN) A Coruña 2016 1:24:58  Yelena Lashmanova (RUS) Cheboksary 2017 1:25:22  Yekaterina Medvedeva (RUS) Sochi 2018 1:23:39  Yelena Lashmanova (RUS) Cheboksary 2019 1:25:29  Glenda Morejón (ECU) A Coruña 2020 1:26:43  Elvira Khasanova (RUS) Sochi

External links

• IAAF list of 20-kilometres-race-walk records in XML