2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 50 kilometres walk 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 50 kilometres walk The men's 50 kilometre walk at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics took place on August 21, 2009 on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The event started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate. Prior to the competition, previous winners did not appear to be medal prospects: the defending world champion Nathan Deakes missed the competition due to injury, and the reigning Olympic champion Alex Schwazer had failed to finish his sole 50 km race of the season. Frenchman Yohann Diniz, as the European Champion, was expected to perform well. The
20,000 metres race walk 20,000 metres race walk The 20,000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it. 20,000 metres is 12.4274 miles. This distance is not commonly raced at high level international competitions but part of South American Championships in Athletics and individual national championships (f.e. Russia, India, Colombia, Venezuela). Top level senior athletics racewalking events typically feature 20 km road distance. On May 7, 1994, Bernardo Segura of Mexico set a new 20,000