© Stade de France ®
Macary, Zublena et Regembal
Costantini - Architects
ADAGP - Paris - 2002
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COMPETITION  EVENTS |
 SLOGGERS ON THE ASPHALT
Nicolas Pécherot
The first final of the 9th IAAF World Athletics Championships will be the 20 kilometre walk at 9.30 a.m. on August 23rd, 2003. Let's take a closer look at one of the most physically demanding disciplines in athletics.
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| French walker René Piller Vandystadt |
· A brief history
The first walking competitions were held in England at the end of the 18th century. They are thought to have been inspired by the long treks across the world by British infantrymen who, in the 12th and 13th centuries, covered long distances by alternating between a running and walking pace.
The first walking race was a seven-mile contest during the British Championships in 1866. In 1908, walking made its appearance at the London Olympics, where a Briton, Larner, completed the 10-mile course in 1h57’57’’. Four years later, this discipline was contested over distances of 3 and 10 kilometres. Owing to a great number of irregularities, walking was dropped from the programme for the 1928 Olympic Games but was reinstated in 1932 with the 50-kilometre walk. It was not until 1956 that the 20k walking race was introduced.
These two distances were included in the programme for the 1st World Championships in Helsinki but they were reserved for men. Walking was opened to women as a 10-kilometre race in 1987 and, then 20 kilometres as from 1999.
· Basic principles
Walking must be performed step by step in such a way that there is always contact with the ground. Walkers must make sure that the foot stepping forward makes contact with the ground before the back foot is raised off the ground. This calls for a specific and extremely tightly regulated technique. Indeed, it is by no means uncommon to see athletes disqualified by race judges after having been given a number of yellow cards: not two as in football, but three.
· Dominant figures
Hartwig Gauder (GER): One of the greatest walkers of all time. His favourite distance was 50 kilometres. He has a complete list of honours: Olympic champion in 1980, European champion in 1986 and world champion in Rome in 1987.
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| Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski Vandystadt |
Robert Korzeniowski (POL): The new star in this event. This Polish athlete has collected every title for the 50-kilometre race over the last six years. He has been world champion twice (in 1997 and 2001), Olympic champion in 1996 in Atlanta and did the double in the 20k and 50k events at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. A member of US Tourcoing sports club, in France, he has also held the world 50k record since the last European Championships in Munich (3h36’39’’).
· World records
Ladies' 10k: Nadezhda Ryashkina (RUS) 41’56’’23
Ladies' 20k: Olympiada Ivanova (RUS) 1h26’52’’3
Men's 20k: Bernardo Segura (MEX) 1h17'25"6
Men's 50k: Robert Korzeniowski (POL) 3h36'39"
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| Vandystadt |
· Key figure
4,500: That's the number of bottles of water that will be provided for the competitors in the three walking events.
· Schedule
Men's 20k: August 23, 2003, from 9.30 a.m. to 10.50 a.m.
Ladies' 20k: August 25, 2003 from 9.30 a.m. to 10.55 a.m.
Men's 50k: August 27, 2003, from 7.50 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
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