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The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympicathletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it.
The men's world record for the 20 km race walk is held by Yusuke Suzuki, who walked 1:16:36 at the Asian Race Walking Championships in his home town of Nomi, Japan. Suzuki's new World Record came exactly one week after Yohann Diniz's mark who walked a then record time of 1:17:02 in Arles at the 2015 French championships. The women's world record of 1:23:49 was set by Yang Jiayu of China in 2021. Russian Elena Lashmanova, has served a previous ban for doping, currently holds a quicker time of 1:23:39 which is also the European record, but it has never been ratified as a world record.
All-time top 25
Tables show data for two definitions of "Top 25" - the top 25 20km walk times and the top 25 athletes:
- denotes top performance for athletes in the top 25 20km walk times
- denotes lesser performances, still in the top 25 20km walk times, by repeat athletes
- denotes top performance (only) for other top 25 athletes who fall outside the top 25 20km walk times