2017 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 50 kilometres walk

The women's 50 kilometres walk at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held on a 2 kilometre course comprising lengths of The Mall between Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch on 13 August.[1][2]

Women's 50 kilometres walk
at the 2017 World Championships
Inês Henriques, the champion.
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates13 August (final)
Competitors7 from 4 nations
Winning time4:05:56
Medalists
gold medal    Portugal
silver medal    China
bronze medal    China
2019 →

Summary edit

This was the first time women were offered this event in the world championships, finally equalizing all events for both genders. Only seven women toed the start line. With the event in its infancy, Inês Henriques (POR) had set the world record in January.

From the start, Henriques was dominating the race though Yin Hang (CHN) was with her virtually stride for stride through the halfway point. Two years prior to this becoming an IAAF ratified event, Erin Taylor-Talcott held the world record. Here she was disqualified early on, after the 5k mark. Behind the lead pack, a chase pack formed by Yang Shuqing (CHN), Katie Burnett (USA) and Nair da Rosa (BRA) walking closely together past 15k before da Rosa fell off the pace. Shortly after the half way mark, Burnett fell off Yang's pace, but she didn't go away. By 35k, Burnett was 50 seconds behind Yang, but she pulled it back, getting within breathing room of Yang as the race was closing in the last 5k.

Henriques continued to widen her lead to over three minutes on Yin. Yin managed to pull back a few seconds over the final 5k, finishing less than a minute short of Henriques' previous world record, but Henriques took two and a half minutes off of that record with this win in 4:05:56. After a scare, Yang opened up a minute over the last 5k on Burnett for bronze. Both silver medalist Yin and fourth place Burnett set their respective continental records.

Records edit

Before the competition records were as follows:[3]

Record Perf. Athlete Nat. Date Location
World 4:08:26 Inês Henriques   POR 15 Jan 2017 Porto de Mós, Portugal
Championship New event
World leading 4:08:26 Inês Henriques   POR 15 Jan 2017 Porto de Mós, Portugal
African No registered time
Asian Record 4:22:22 Yin Hang   CHN 5 Mar 2017 Huangshan, China
NACAC 4:26:37 Kathleen Burnett   USA 28 Jan 2017 Santee, United States
South American 4:39:28 Nair da Rosa   BRA 2 Oct 2016 Lima, Peru
European 4:08:26 Inês Henriques   POR 15 Jan 2017 Porto de Mós, Portugal
Oceanian No registered time

The following records were set at the competition:[4]

Record Perf. Athlete Nat. Date
World 4:05:56 Inês Henriques   POR 13 Aug 2017
Championship
World leading
European
Portuguese
Asian 4:08:58 Yin Hang   CHN
Chinese
NACAC 4:21:51 Kathleen Burnett   USA
American

Qualification standard edit

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 4:30:00.[5]

Results edit

The final took place on 13 August at 07:46. The results were as follows:[6]

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
  Inês Henriques   Portugal (POR) 4:05:56 WR
  Yin Hang   China (CHN) 4:08:58 AR
  Yang Shuqing   China (CHN) 4:20:49 PB
4 Kathleen Burnett   United States (USA) 4:21:51 AR
Nair da Rosa   Brazil (BRA) DNF Beyond time limit
Susan Randall   United States (USA) DNF Beyond time limit
Erin Taylor-Talcott   United States (USA) DQ R 230.6 (a)

References edit

  1. ^ "50 Kilometres Race Walk Women − Timetable". IAAF. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  2. ^ Start list
  3. ^ "50 Kilometres Race Walk Women – Records". IAAF. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Records Set - Final" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Qualification System and Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  6. ^ "50 Kilometres Race Walk Women − Final − Results" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 15 August 2017.