Pic in article on RWer Tom Bosworth CLEARLY shows 2 feet in air on WR effort

Get rid of it. There are only a few people who like it and it is probably the only event that people truly dislike. Many people are bored during the 10k or some of the field events but this event actually generates negative emotions.

son of a jamin wrote:

No that is a run. That is the thing, all the top guys actually run. It should be called running with bad form not race walking.

Enter a race you should win easy then.

Probably their walking pace is faster than your running pace though.

The orange singlet photo is from last weeks 3000m WR in London. Clearly should be DQ.

The video is from last years 1 mile in London. (2017)

Hopefully that clears things up?

son of a jamin wrote:

No that is a run. That is the thing, all the top guys actually run. It should be called running with bad form not race walking.

RW is a complete joke and just brings down the public s interest in t&f.

straightlegdown wrote:

Since Americans are such bad race walkers, I always wonder if they actually follow the rules. Anyone know?

I knew a HS coach who had his athletes paint the bottom of their shoes to match the color of the track hoping that it would make it harder to see space between the track and shoe. If a coach was willing to do this for a 1500 meter event limited to a few states imagine what other ways of breaking the rules were taught.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

son of a jamin wrote:

No that is a run. That is the thing, all the top guys actually run. It should be called running with bad form not race walking.

Enter a race you should win easy then.

Probably their walking pace is faster than your running pace though.

Because I would be on the ground laughing at them.

This is a perennial thread here. I love the "as seen by the human eye." Also "The Judges of Race Walking shall have the sole authority to determine the fairness or unfairness of walking." It's an invitation to going airborne. Part of the sport. Kind of like traveling in the NBA (and if you think you understand that, try reading the rules). Only race walkers don't make tens of millions.

Yes, race walking is funny and looks ridiculous. But, it is a lot harder than one may think. Watch this video to put perspective on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1sxFgTUbWo

Absolutely ridiculous sport. Should remove it from the assot with track and field. It is its own sport that simply tags onto Athletics for some unfortunate reason.

Of course Bosworth was running the whole way round. When you move faster you take off the ground more. You can't just move your legs at 250 steps per minute in that weird style, there is a limit. So instead what increases is stride length. And for that to increase you must take off the ground or else do the splits.

I'll tolerate them doing their 50k event but don't put these guys on the track doing a mile or 3k it's ridiculous. It's just running with a weird ineffective style.

I'm sure Bosworth is very fit, I don't know why he doesn't just run like a normal person. I'm sure he'd be very fast, maybe even a sub 14 5k guy. He should just give it a go some time, might run a storming marathon.

I would be terribly embarrassed to be a race walker.

I agree with everything you have written. I just want to add my thoughts on race "walking". I think that all race "walkers" cheat by running. After watching a few of these events on TV I realized that everyone was cheating and I did not want to watch cheaters. I no longer watch these "events". The "walkers" know they are cheating so how can they feel any happiness or sense of achievement knowing that they have cheated by running. Cheaters need to be called out and removed from sport including men competing as women, athletes older than U20 competing as U20, EPO drug cheats and cheats wearing spring loaded Vapor shoes.

Sand Dunes wrote:

https://youtu.be/EOYdS5QZasM

LOLOLOL.... how on earth can someone take this seriously.

I guess i haven't seen race walking in a long time or maybe it just looks even more ridiculous on a track vs out on the roads. The technical performance sunglasses and the track kits and the shoes and the shots of the people in the stands and the serious nervous athletes at the start line... then the gun goes off and they all start doing the weird wiggle run/walk. It's like an SNL skit.

yepppp wrote:

LOLOLOL.... how on earth can someone take this seriously.

I guess i haven't seen race walking in a long time or maybe it just looks even more ridiculous on a track vs out on the roads. The technical performance sunglasses and the track kits and the shoes and the shots of the people in the stands and the serious nervous athletes at the start line... then the gun goes off and they all start doing the weird wiggle run/walk. It's like an SNL skit.

the only reason why someone would do this is because they sucked at running

yepppp wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

https://youtu.be/EOYdS5QZasM

LOLOLOL.... how on earth can someone take this seriously.

I guess i haven't seen race walking in a long time or maybe it just looks even more ridiculous on a track vs out on the roads. The technical performance sunglasses and the track kits and the shoes and the shots of the people in the stands and the serious nervous athletes at the start line... then the gun goes off and they all start doing the weird wiggle run/walk. It's like an SNL skit.

OK, but something happens when you see it more frequently- you start to view it technically, and it doesn't look strange anymore.

Do all fast walkers "know" they are "cheating"? no, and unless you actually start running when you think nobody is watching- you don't think of violations as "cheating". Walkers want their technique and fitness to be so good that they can walk fast in way that, if you are losing contact with the ground, it is harder to detect and less extreme than the walkers with poor technique and are falling apart due to fatigue. By the way, I walked in a lot of races, and never saw someone intentionally run.

To some extent, it's like fouls in basketball- what's a foul depends on the ref, the game situation, etc. The athletes have to adjust to the way the game is being called on that day.

Another thing- you might think it looks funny, weird, etc.- but if you have good technique, racewalking feels very natural and comfortable (although you can find pain fast if you increase the pace, just as in running).

Bob Schul Country wrote:

the only reason why someone would do this is because they sucked at running

if by "sucked at running" you mean "isn't going to be in the Olympics for running but might make it as a racewalker", then you might be right.

Any decent male racewalker I competed with was capable of running a 4:30 to 4:45 mile from walking training only (no running distance or intervals, no running at all). Did they "suck at running"? Maybe by your definition, yes.

A sub 14 five km is npot going to get Bosworth to an Olympics. That may have something to do with why he doesn't run like a normal person.

HRE wrote:

ex-runner wrote:

I'm sure Bosworth is very fit, I don't know why he doesn't just run like a normal person. I'm sure he'd be very fast, maybe even a sub 14 5k guy. He should just give it a go some time, might run a storming marathon.

A sub 14 five km is npot going to get Bosworth to an Olympics. That may have something to do with why he doesn't run like a normal person.

True but I would rate his chances to make the Olympics for the marathon, to be fair to him. He has very good endurance and according to Paula Radcliffe can hold his own against elite runners in some sessions he's done on training camps.

To the other guy saying they look more ridiculous on the track, you are entirely correct. These 3k and mile events are much faster than they usually 'walk' and so their style becomes even more exaggerated and ridiculous.

I'm not even sure they are being judged in this 3k. Maybe once a lap? Stupid.

Sand Dunes wrote:

https://youtu.be/EOYdS5QZasM

1:16 in the video, my naked eye can clearly tell the leader, green singlet, and bright orange singlet all lift both feet off the ground. Not hard to see even with the grainy video.