There is a walker in Australia who has run sub-50 400m and is a very, very handy all-round athlete on both the track and the field.
I would say race walkers choose the sport because they are surrounded by people who teach them proper technique and obviously because they excel at the discipline. The only difference in walking to running is the emphasis on technique - without it you get DQ.
Two weeks I participated in the USATF Outdoor Nationals in Spokane WA in racewalking events, both the 5K and 10K. Since then 3 or 4 people have asked me this same question about how they can get started in racewalking. I wrote a post How to Get Started in Racewalking for my blog. http://www.55communityguide.com/blog/get-started-in-racewalking/
Many got into the sport by being mediocre NAIA athletes. Teams like Malone would use their power to keep it as a scored event so they could get some easy points at nationals. Most racewalkers were folks that came on the team as runners but realized they would never make nationals as a runner. BAM! Perfect person to be a natioanal champ racewalker!
xenonscreams wrote:
Just curious. I'm wondering how people get into racewalking to begin with
I doubt you’ll ever find out. That’s a question that all race walkers aks themselves every day.