Thatguy20 wrote:
This is an interesting statement.
Did you know, that Cumberlands would have won indoor nationals without the racewalk? Sure outdoors they needed the racewalk points (although from my understanding if other athletes had performed what most people expected, the 15 points from two of their walkers might’ve been unneeded). This year it could be a little different.
In the Olympics, the racewalk is one of few events that has representation from such a wide range of different countries, particularly in the top numbers of finishers. China, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Ethiopia, Australia, Great Britain, France, Colombia, Peru, and Ukraine are all represented in the top 16 of the men’s and women’s 20km racewalk at the Paris Olympics. For some countries, this is a niche event that could be their shot at an Olympic medal (keep in mind, the men’s Olympic standard is faster than the current men’s American record, and we have in the past had a bronze medalist (Larry Young 50km 1968 and 1972).
The US only has a handful of medals in this event, but nothing is stopping more in the future but ignorant and hateful people like you who denigrate the work of those in this event and the event itself as well as a chronic lack of early development of potential stars in this event.
Did you also know that the NAIA is the single largest contributor of modern US elite walkers? Something like 8 or 9 out of the top 11 or 12 finishers at the US men’s olympic trials 20km race were NAIA walkers at one time? The male racewalker the US sent in 2021 to Tokyo was an NAIA champion, and actually holds the national indoor record (Nick Christie). Evan Dunfee may be Canadian, but he won bronze in Tokyo in the 50km and he holds the NAIA outdoor 5km record (he was also 5th at Paris in the 20km, and has a several international championships medals, including a bronze at the world champs in Doha in the 50km and silver at the 20km world team champs in Rome). The female that Dunfee teamed up with for the marathon mixed relay in Paris was the NAIA outdoor champion this last year (Olivia Lundman).
Maybe take a little time to actually understand what racewalking is and then you can fully appreciate the difficulty and legitimacy of the discipline.
Nobody cares