Race walking at the Olympics Race walking at the Olympics Race walking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There are three race walking events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres walk, and a men's 50 kilometres walk. The races are held in a final-only format. The first men's events came at the 1908 London Olympics, which featured 3500 m and 10-mile distances. A 10-kilometre version was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics and it continued until 1952 (skipping three editions from 1928–1936). There was also a one-off
Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 10 kilometres walk was held on Wednesday, August 18, 1920. Before the race started Frigerio handed the conductor of the mid-field band several sheets of music, which he requested to be played during the race. He won so easily that he stopped once to show the band the correct tempo... Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 10 kilometres walk The men's 10 kilometres walk event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 17, 1920 and on Wednesday, August 18, 1920. Twenty-three race walkers from 13 nations competed.