The International Olympic Committee and the International Athletics Federation published a statement on Easter, which dismayed the athletics circles and especially the pedestrians. The sports organizations said that they will introduce a mixed message of walking into the program of next year’s Paris Olympics.
The Paris race walk consists of an individual race and a 4 x 10 kilometer relay, where one man and one woman cover two legs. The medley replaces another personal walk, which used to be 50 kilometers.
The decision has received a complete shock from the sports community. Aku Bearden sums up the thoughts of many race walkers.
– It has received a pretty crushing reception. I don’t really like the way it was done. The athletes were not consulted in the matter, and it is a decision made behind closed doors.
– That is a bit like reforming the triple jump, where one athlete jumps the first jump, another athlete the second jump and the president of the jumping association jumps the last jump. I don’t think it’s the same sport anymore, Partanen downloads.
Finnish Sports Association’s walking sport manager Jani Lehtinen agrees with the comment that athletes or coaches have not been consulted.
– The biggest disappointment is that this form of competition has not been tried anywhere. There is no experience of how it works.
The trip to the World Cup was not valid
There have been big changes in international elite walking in recent years. The last time the traditional 50-kilometer walk took place in the prestigious competition was a couple of years ago at the Tokyo Olympics.
The international athletics federation World Athletics reacted to the first big change and included a 35-kilometer walk in the World Championship program. It was last summer at the World Championships in Oregon for the first time for both men and women.
The goal of the International Athletics Federation was to get both men and women a 35-kilometer distance to the Olympics as well. Previously, only men had a long distance at the Olympic level.
– The International Olympic Committee said that there would be no new medal events and that the event would be a joint competition between men and women. The International Olympic Committee has not wanted what we want, i.e. a 35 km race for both, Finnish member of the IOC board Antti Pihlakoski says.
Pihlakoski says that the issue was twisted for two years.
– The International Athletics Federation finally had to give in. The risk would have been that there would have been only one type of walking. At worst, it would have been a step towards walking being removed from the Olympic program. This was ultimately a compromise.
In Pihlakoski’s opinion, the IOC has looked at race walking in a crooked way. The reason for this is, among other things, the doping cases of several Russian walkers and the last-minute rejections of the 50-kilometer walk.
Similar journeys
In Partanen’s opinion, last year’s World Championships in Oregon showed that the 35-kilometer race is too close to the 20-kilometer distance. An example of this is that Sweden Perseus Karlstrom had medals in both trips.
– The same medalists were almost on both trips. They weren’t different enough, Partanen regrets.
In recent years, individual sports have seen mixed messages in, for example, biathlon and swimming. In athletics, there is already a 4 x 400 meter relay in use, where the team has two women and a man.
The concept in question is thought to be an interesting product from the point of view of young consumers. Partanen understands the current development trend, where consumers want to get everything faster.
– I understand that a 50 kilometer walk can be too long to follow. But when changes are made that completely reshape the nature of the species, it is radical.
He reminds that a lot of reforms have been made in the last few years.
– As an athlete, I would hope foresight, so that reforms would not be made all the time and thoroughly disrupt the sport. However, you have to prepare for the games, plan training and prepare long-term.
From a walker to a marathon runner
The timing of the decision, less than a year and a half before the Paris Olympics, has also attracted criticism. Lehtinen says that usually the changes are known at the end of the previous Olympics at the latest.
Based on statistics, ranking or selection competitions, 25 countries are invited to the mixed relay. However, the selection system is still shrouded in obscurity.
According to Lehtinen, there is probably only one qualifying race in use, which will possibly be held next year at the World Cup Team Race Walking Championships. The rest of the athletes may be considered according to the current 20 kilometer ranking.
– You cannot use anything other than the 20-kilometer ranking, because it (the ranking) is not collected from other than 20-kilometer and 35-kilometer distances.
When 50 kilometers fell from the program of the prestigious athletics championships, Partanen decided to focus on the 20 kilometer distance. In the worst case, shortening long distances may lead to terminations.
Norway was one of the top names in the walk Håvard Haukenes already switched to marathon running earlier.
– He switched to the marathon because he didn’t have time for shorter distances, says Partanen.
Last week, however, we heard news about the marathon as well. The European Athletics Federation decided that the marathon will not be part of the European Athletics Championships after 2026.
Part of a mass event
At the World Athletics Championships, a 35-kilometer walk is on the program. Pihlakoski thinks it is too short a journey.
– Walking 50 kilometers is like heavyweight boxing. I consider it a big weakness that it was abandoned.
Pihlakoski has a proposal for what race walking should be like in today’s society.
– My vision is that there would be a half-marathon and a marathon in walking. It would somehow be more understandable for people, because we know what is a good result in a half-marathon and a marathon. You could compare how hard the walkers walk.
The direction of the walk can be one where it is part of a large public exercise event like a marathon.
– Technology would be developed so that judging could be reduced in race walking. Then all mass exercise events could serve as stages for walking competitions.
Correction at 5:54 p.m.: The length of the message is 4 x 10 kilometers, not meters, as the story originally read.