Women’s 50km Race Walking Event Added at Last Minute To IAAF World Championships 2017 Programme

IAAF Press Release
July 23, 2017

Based on its wish to ensure gender equality on the field of play, the IAAF Council has decided to create a new 50km race walk competition for women at the IAAF World Championships London 2017.

Scheduled to start at the same time as the men’s event, the women’s 50km race walk in London will have separate results and prize money. The entry standard is 4:30:00 to be achieved by Tuesday 25 July midnight Monaco time.

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In order for athletes to be allowed to finish the race in London, they shall be required to start the last two-kilometre lap within the time limit of 4:17:00.

IAAF Member Federations have been advised of the decision along with the qualifying standard.

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“IAAF Council’s decision to create a new 50km race walk competition for women with separate results and prize money at the World Championships in London follows the 2016 IAAF Race Walking Team Championships in Rome, where one female athlete from the USA joined her four male teammates,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe. “There has been equal prize money for men and women at the IAAF World Championships since the introduction of financial rewards in the early 1990s and this decision brings gender quality in terms of competition opportunity too.

“But we must acknowledge this has been a last-minute decision based upon the request of a small group of athletes,” added Coe. “Therefore, to ensure the long-term credibility of the World Championships, we will follow the recommendation of the Race Walking Committee and assess the development of the event to determine whether there are sufficient numbers of athletes and countries legitimately interested.”

IAAF

Talk about the release on the LRC messageboard: Want to go to worlds? The IAAF just added a new event – 1 more day to qualify

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