A new Olympic event was introduced on Wednesday as the mixed marathon race walk relay took to the streets of Paris.
The individual 20km race walks took place earlier this week, with Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado claiming gold in the men’s competition and China’s Jiayu Yang winning the women’s event.
A mixed relay team event was introduced for the first time in Paris, with Spain pair Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez clinching a historic gold in a time of 2:50.31.
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Ecuador took silver, finishing 51 seconds behind the Spaniards, while Australia completed the podium places a further 16 seconds behind.
The inaugural race attracted big crowds in Paris but some fans were left questioning whether all the athletes followed the rule book.
What are the rules of race walking?
In race walking, one foot must always be in contact with the ground and an athlete’s advancing leg must remain straight from the point of contact with the ground until the other passes over it.
Breaking this rule is called ‘lifting’ and judges will caution and/or punish athlete’s if they are adjudged to have violated the rules.
Three separate violations during a race results in a two-minute penalty. In this race, three violations led to a three-minute penalty. If a team committed seven violations they would be disqualified.
Some viewers were surprised by the lack of violations handed out during the marathon race as they were adamant numerous examples of ‘lifting’ took place.
‘Nothing infuriates me more than race walk cheaters,’ said one X user alongside a picture appearing to show an athlete with both feet off the ground.
‘Not convinced these competitors in the walk race aren’t cheating,’ said another. ‘Looks very much to me like they’re jogging.’
Race walking, according to the official Olympics website, is believed to have originated in the Victorian era when noblemen would bet on their footmen – who walked alongside their employer’s horse-driven coaches – for a winner.
‘It came to be known as pedestrianism and made its way to the United States in the late 19th century,’ the summary adds. ‘It caught on as a spectacle sport, with participants walking nearly 1,000 kms in six days inside packed indoor arenas.’
Race walking made its Olympic debut in 1904 in USA as part of the decathlon event before featuring as a standalone competition four years later.
How fast are Olympic race walkers?
Olympic champion Pintado completed the 20km course in just under 1 hours 19 minutes, putting him at an average speed of 9.45mph (15.21 kph).
China’s Yang Jiayu won the women’s race in 1:25.54 at an average speed of 8.68mph (13.97kph).
It remains to be seen whether the marathon mixed relay will be kept on the Olympics schedule for 2028.
Discussing the event’s future, BBC commentator Rob Walker said: ‘I can see this event being a real stayer.
‘I think the IOC really like mixed events and especially given the crowd reaction, I really think that this event could stay and even become a traditional four-person team event. It is here to stay.’
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