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 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 10 kilometres walk Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 10 kilometres walk The Women's 10 km Walk at the 1992 Summer Olympics was held on August 3, 1992, in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 44 competitors, with six athletes who were disqualified. Inside the stadium, Alina Ivanova and Chen Yueling were locked in a tight battle. With 200 metres to go, Ivanova accelerated for what looked like would be a gold/bronze combination for the former Soviet athletes. Chen maintained her pace to stay ahead of Yelena Nikolayeva, sprinting to chase her down, pulling away from Chen's Chinese teammate