The men's 50 kilometre walk at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 took place on August 21, 2009 on the streets of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The event started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate

Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...

.

Prior to the competition, previous winners did not appear to be medal prospects: the defending world champion Nathan Deakes

Nathan Deakes

Nathan Deakes is an Australian race walker. Deakes trains with the Australian Institute of Sport....

 missed the competition due to injury, and the reigning Olympic champion Alex Schwazer

Alex Schwazer

Alex Schwazer is an Italian race walker.Schwazer won the bronze medal in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a national record time of 3:41.54 hours...

 had failed to finish his sole 50 km race of the season. Frenchman Yohann Diniz

Yohann Diniz

Yohann Diniz is a French race walker.He won the gold medal in the 50 km race at the 2006 European Championships in a personal best time of 3:41:39 hours...

, as the European Champion, was expected to perform well. The Russian team

Russia at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

Russia competes at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15–23 August. A team of over 100 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition, one of the largest squads in the competition. Selected athletes have achieved one of the competition's qualifying standards...

 of world record holder Denis Nizhegorodov

Denis Nizhegorodov

Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov is a Russian race walker and current world record holder in the 50 km racewalk, with a time of 3:34:14, set in Cheboksary on May 11, 2008.-Achievements:-References:...

, Yuriy Andronov

Yuriy Andronov

-Achievements:-References:*...

 and former world champion Sergey Kirdyapkin

Sergey Kirdyapkin

Sergey Alexandrovich Kirdyapkin is a Russian race walker.He won the gold medal in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a personal best time of 3:38:08 hours. He won his second world title at the 2009 World Championships, finishing in 3:38:35, his second fastest ever time.He is married...

 appeared to be the strongest. Norwegians

Norway at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

Norway will compete at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15–23 August. A team of 14 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition. Selected athletes have achieved one of the competition's qualifying standards...

 Erik Tysse

Erik Tysse

Erik Tysse is a Norwegian race walker. He has competed at four editions of the World Championships in Athletics and represented Norway at the 2008 Summer Olympics....

 and Trond Nymark

Trond Nymark

Trond Nymark is a Norwegian race walker. He was born in Bergen and represents TIF Viking.-Achievements:-External links:* Homepage of Trond Nymark....

 were possible medallists as were Jesús Ángel García

Jesús Ángel García

Jesús Ángel García Bragado is a Spanish race walker. He is married to gymnast Carmen Acedo.-Achievements:-References:...

 and Jared Tallent

Jared Tallent

Jared Tallent is an Australian race walker.Tallent finished third in the 20 km walk at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to claim his first Olympic medal...

. Zhao Chengliang

Zhao Chengliang

Zhao Chengliang is a Chinese race walker. Zhao won the 50 km walk event at the 11th Chinese National Games in 2009.-Achievements:-References:...

, Li Lei, and Xu Faguang were suggested as candidates to win the Chinese team

China at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

China competes at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15–23 August in Berlin.Half of China's 32-strong team will be making their debuts...

's first medal of the championships.

The final began in wet conditions, but Yuki Yamazaki

Yuki Yamazaki

is a Japanese race walker.-Achievements:-External links:...

 and Luke Adams

Luke Adams

Luke Kendall Adams is a male race walker from Australia, who was born in Tanzania. He is a two-time Olympian for Australia. He also guest starred in the Family Guy episode Baby, You Knock Me Out.-Achievements:...

 built up a considerable early lead. Tallent and Diniz caught up with them around the 5 km mark, but a large pack of walkers containing a number of contenders remained not far off the leaders. After the first hour, a six-strong pack of Nizhegorodov and Kirdyapkin, Tallent and Adams, and Yamazaki and Diniz had broken away from the rest. At the halfway point Yamazaki, after receiving a number of warnings, was disqualified and Schwazer decided to prematurely stop his own race. The remaining five stayed in contention until the 40 km mark, where Nizhegorodov pulled out, and Diniz and Adams began to drift away from the leaders. Kirdyapkin sped ahead of Tallent and Trond Nymark

Trond Nymark

Trond Nymark is a Norwegian race walker. He was born in Bergen and represents TIF Viking.-Achievements:-External links:* Homepage of Trond Nymark....

 had a late burst and caught up with the leaders. Kirdyapkin won, almost three minutes ahead of the rest of the competition, and Nymark took second. García, with a late charge, was not far behind and won the bronze medal.

The 2005 World Champion

2005 World Championships in Athletics

The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...

 Kirdyapkin won his second title with a world-leading 3:38:35, the second fastest time of his career after his 2005 winning walk. It marked a racewalk Championship sweep for the Russians, with all three winners being coached by Viktor Chegin. Nymark won the first World Championship medal of career with a new Norwegian record

Norwegian records in athletics

The following are the national records in athletics in Norway maintained by its national athletics federation: Norges Fri-Idrettsforbund .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distance# = not officially ratifiedOT = oversized track...

, and veteran García won the fourth medal of his career, although his last came in 2001

2001 World Championships in Athletics

The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...

. A number of athletes set personal bests, including fourth placed Grzegorz Sudoł, but the season's fastest walkers had not performed well with Matej Tóth

Matej Tóth

Matej Tóth is a Slovak race walker. He is a two-time Olympian, having competed in 2004 and 2008, and has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions...

 and Diniz finishing in tenth and twelfth, respectively.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sergey Kirdyapkin Sergey Kirdyapkin Sergey Alexandrovich Kirdyapkin is a Russian race walker.He won the gold medal in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a personal best time of 3:38:08 hours. He won his second world title at the 2009 World Championships, finishing in 3:38:35, his second fastest ever time.He is married...	Trond Nymark Trond Nymark Trond Nymark is a Norwegian race walker. He was born in Bergen and represents TIF Viking.-Achievements:-External links:* Homepage of Trond Nymark.... '	Jesús Angel García Jesús Ángel García Jesús Ángel García Bragado is a Spanish race walker. He is married to gymnast Carmen Acedo.-Achievements:-References:... '

Abbreviations

• All times shown are in hours:minutes:seconds

  DNS	did not start
  NM	no mark
  WR	world record
  WL	world leading
  AR	area record
  NR	national record
  PB	personal best
  SB	season best

Records

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.

World record		3:34:14	Cheboksary Cheboksary -Twin towns/sister cities:Cheboksary is twinned with: Eger in Hungary Antalya in Turkey Santa Clara in CubaAlso Partnerships are shown with: Rundu in Namibia -External links:****... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...	11 May 2008
Championship record		3:36:03	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	27 August 2003
World leading		3:38:45	Dudince Dudince Dudince is a spa town in southern Slovakia, with a population of 1,500. It is known for its healing mineral waters and spas.-Geography:... , Slovakia Slovakia The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...	28 March 2009
African record		3:58:44	Santa Eulària des Riu Santa Eulària des Riu Santa Eulària des Riu is a municipality on the eastern coast of Ibiza. The only river on the island flows through the town of Santa Eulària. The town was depicted, in the time before and up to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, in Elliot Paul's Life and Death of a Spanish Town... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	4 March 2007
Asian record		3:36:06	Nanjing Nanjing ' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions... , China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	22 October 2005
North American record		3:41:20	Poděbrady Podebrady Poděbrady is a historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies on the river Labe 50 km east of Prague on the D11 highway. A historic milestone in the life of the town was the year 1905, when it was visited by the German estate owner Prince von Bülow... , Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...	11 June 1978
South American record		3:52:07	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...	28 July 2007
European record		3:34:14	Cheboksary, Russia	11 May 2008
Oceanian record		3:35:47	Geelong Geelong, Victoria Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	2 December 2006

No new records was set during this competition.

Qualification standards

Standard A	Standard B
3:58:00	4:09:00

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
August 21, 2009	09:10	Final

Results

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Sergey Kirdyapkin Sergey Kirdyapkin Sergey Alexandrovich Kirdyapkin is a Russian race walker.He won the gold medal in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a personal best time of 3:38:08 hours. He won his second world title at the 2009 World Championships, finishing in 3:38:35, his second fastest ever time.He is married...		3:38:35	WL
	Trond Nymark Trond Nymark Trond Nymark is a Norwegian race walker. He was born in Bergen and represents TIF Viking.-Achievements:-External links:* Homepage of Trond Nymark....		3:41:16	NR Norwegian records in athletics The following are the national records in athletics in Norway maintained by its national athletics federation: Norges Fri-Idrettsforbund .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distance# = not officially ratifiedOT = oversized track...
	Jesús Ángel García Jesús Ángel García Jesús Ángel García Bragado is a Spanish race walker. He is married to gymnast Carmen Acedo.-Achievements:-References:...		3:41:37	SB
	Grzegorz Sudoł		3:42:34	PB
	André Höhne André Höhne André Höhne is a German race walker.He finished 14th in the 20 kilometres walk at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, crossing the line with a time of 1:21:59.-Achievements:-References:...		3:43:19	PB
	Luke Adams Luke Adams Luke Kendall Adams is a male race walker from Australia, who was born in Tanzania. He is a two-time Olympian for Australia. He also guest starred in the Family Guy episode Baby, You Knock Me Out.-Achievements:...		3:43:39	PB
	Jared Tallent Jared Tallent Jared Tallent is an Australian race walker.Tallent finished third in the 20 km walk at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to claim his first Olympic medal...		3:44:50	SB
	Marco De Luca Marco De Luca -Achievements:-References:...		3:46:31	PB
	Jarkko Kinnunen Jarkko Kinnunen Jarkko Juhani Kinnunen is a Finnish race walker. His trainer is Kari Ahonen since 1999.-Achievements:-References:...		3:47:36	PB
10	Matej Tóth Matej Tóth Matej Tóth is a Slovak race walker. He is a two-time Olympian, having competed in 2004 and 2008, and has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions...		3:48:35
11	Xu Faguang		3:48:52	PB
12	Yohann Diniz Yohann Diniz Yohann Diniz is a French race walker.He won the gold medal in the 50 km race at the 2006 European Championships in a personal best time of 3:41:39 hours...		3:49:03
13	Jesús Sánchez		3:50:55	PB
14	Donatas Škarnulis Donatas Škarnulis Donatas Škarnulis is a Lithuanian race walker.He finished twelfth at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. He also competed at the 2006 World Race Walking Cup.-Achievements:-References:...		3:50:56	SB
15	Zhao Chengliang Zhao Chengliang Zhao Chengliang is a Chinese race walker. Zhao won the 50 km walk event at the 11th Chinese National Games in 2009.-Achievements:-References:...		3:53:06
16	Oleksiy Shelest		3:54:03	PB
17	Tadas Šuškevicius Tadas Šuškevičius Tadas Šuškevičius is a race-walker who competes internationally for Lithuania.He finished 32nd in the 50 km walk at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He also competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics reaching 17th place and setting a personal record.-Achievements:- Personal bests...		3:54:29	PB
18	Koichiro Morioka Koichiro Morioka is a Japanese race walker.-Achievements:-References:...		3:56:21
19	Horacio Nava Horacio Nava Horacio Nava Reza is a male race walker from Mexico.-Achievements:-References:*...		3:56:26	SB
20	Herve Davaux		3:57:10	PB
21	Andreas Gustafsson		3:57:53	PB
22	Rafał Augustyn Rafał Augustyn (athlete) Rafał Augustyn is a Polish race walker.-Achievements:-References:...		3:58:30
23	Augusto Cardoso		3:59:10	SB
24	Miloš Bátovský		3:59:39
25	Li Lei		4:00:13
26	Mikel Odriozola Mikel Odriozola Mikel Odriozola Domínguez is a Spanish race walker.-Achievements:-References:*...		4:00:54
27	Cedric Houssaye		4:02:44	SB
28	Diego Cafagna Diego Cafagna Diego Cafagna is an Italian race walker.-Achievements:-References:...		4:08:04
29	José Alejandro Cambil José Alejandro Cambil José Alejandro Cambil is a Spanish race walker.-Achievements:-References:...		4:13:14
30	Mesías Zapata Mesías Zapata Magno Mesías Zapata is a male race walker from Ecuador. He competed for his native country at the 2007 Pan American Games. He won the bronze medal at the Pan American Race Walking Cup in 2009 and also walked at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, where he was 30th over 50 km...		4:15:28
31	Luis Fernando García Luis Fernando García Luis Fernando García Bechinie is a male race walker from Guatemala. He competed for his native country in four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996 .-Achievements:-References:*...		4:18:13	SB

} ||align=left| Takayuki Tanii ||align=left| || || DQ
|-
| ||align=left| Yuki Yamazaki

Yuki Yamazaki

is a Japanese race walker.-Achievements:-External links:...

 ||align=left| || || DQ
|-
| ||align=left| Omar Zepeda

Omar Zepeda

Omar Zepeda is a male race walker from Mexico. He finished sixth in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a personal best time of 3:49:01 hours....

 ||align=left| || || DQ
|-
| ||align=left| Mário dos Santos

Mário dos Santos

Mário José dos Santos Júnior is a male race walker from Brazil. He competed for his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2004 .-Achievements:-References:*...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Marco Benavides ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Konstadínos Stefanópoulos ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Jamie Costin

Jamie Costin

James Costin is an Irish race walker from Ring, County Waterford.He has qualified to represent Ireland in the 50km Walk at three Olympic Games...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Colin Griffin ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Alex Schwazer

Alex Schwazer

Alex Schwazer is an Italian race walker.Schwazer won the bronze medal in the 50 km race at the 2005 World Championships in a national record time of 3:41.54 hours...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Ingus Janevics

Ingus Janevics

Ingus Janevics is a Latvian race walker.-Achievements:-References:...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Konstadínos Stefanópoulos ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Erik Tysse

Erik Tysse

Erik Tysse is a Norwegian race walker. He has competed at four editions of the World Championships in Athletics and represented Norway at the 2008 Summer Olympics....

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Rafał Fedaczyński ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| António Pereira ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Yuriy Andronov

Yuriy Andronov

-Achievements:-References:*...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Denis Nizhegorodov

Denis Nizhegorodov

Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov is a Russian race walker and current world record holder in the 50 km racewalk, with a time of 3:34:14, set in Cheboksary on May 11, 2008.-Achievements:-References:...

 ||align=left| || || DNF
|-
| ||align=left| Nenad Filipović ||align=left| || || DNF
|}

Key: DNF = Did not finish, DQ = Disqualified, NR

National records in athletics

National records in athletics are the marks achieved by a nation's best athlete in a particular athletics event. These records are ratified by the respective national athletics governing body...

= National record, PB = Personal best, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)