Sport of athletics athletics tracks for ease of measurement, and the 1908 Summer Olympics in London saw the introduction of the 3500-metre and 10-mile walks. Racewalking was briefly dropped from the Olympic programme in 1928, but the men's 50 kilometres race walk has been held at every Olympic Games but one since 1932. The men's 20 kilometres race walk was added to the Olympic athletics schedule in 1956 and the women's event was first held in 1992. The most common events in modern competition are over 10 km, 20 km and 50 km on roads, although women's 3 km and men's 5 km
Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk was barely able to walk, while a fresh Lashmanova celebrated her victory. , the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following records were established during the competition: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk The women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held on 11 August on a route along The Mall and Constitution Hill. From the start of the race, defending champion Olga Kaniskina took the lead, only Liu Hong would go with her. The two opened up a big gap with a chase pack