Canada’s David Ford placed 4th today in wild water kayaking! YAY!!!
Racewalk is a specific technique, not a ‘maximum speed.’ I’m no expert, but I believe it has something to do with keeping at least one foot on the ground at all times and keeping the leg ramrod straight until it’s on the ground. If you noticed, most of the athletes waddle like they have to go to the can, and the mandatory technique is why.
Racewalking is a sport with exactly two rules:
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You must have one foot on the ground at all times; and
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Once your heel contacts the ground, your knee must remain straight until your body passes over it.
(I’ve paraphrased these here; the USAT&F wording is even more pedantic than that.)
These two rules make it intentionally difficult to go fast. If you really wanted to go as fast as you could, you would run. These two restrictions make it physiologically more difficult to go fast. (As a result, once you get past about a 4.5 mph pace, a walker traveling at a given pace will burn more calories than a runner going at the same pace.) You have to develop a gait which depends a lot on hip rotation to move quickly. If you’re doing it right, you look like a geek, and people like to point and giggle. You’re also getting a very good workout.
Racewalking is sort of an odd duck in the world of Track and Field events because it’s not just a matter of who crosses the finish line first; it is also a judged event. At any racewalking event, there will be judges out on the field holding a little ping-pong paddle like thing. On one side, it will have a right angle, which denotes a bent knee. On the other side, it will have a wavy line, which denotes that you’re lifting, or having times when both feet are off the ground at once. If judges see you doing the illegal behaviors, they will flash the sign at you, and mark you down in their little book. At the end of the race, the judges will get together, and if you have more than 3 warnings, you will be disqualified. (This is the practice in the 5K races I’ve competed in; I don’t know if it’s exactly the same in Olympics.)
The really top notch racewalkers who hit top speeds will always be flirting on the edge of lifting. During the course of a 20K or 50K race, it’s nearly certain that there will be times that even the best racewalker will be illegal (especially at turns and on hills), but judges can’t be everywhere on the course. There has been noise made before about eliminating racewalking as an Olympic sport because of the bad blood that is engendered when someone busts his butt doing 50K (around 31 miles) at a 7 minute per mile pace and “wins” the race, only to be disqualified by the judge at the end. The fact that most people don’t get it, and consider it just a geeky looking sport doesn’t help matters, either. The competitors are true athletes, though, who deserve respect for competing in a physically demanding sport.
I wish I could see some TV coverage on racewalking. 
Just go a little further into what Muffin is saying it’s not even tough to see when they hit the gate, the things swing back and forth when you hit them. They don’t judge the quality of their stroke or anything.
I’d rather see a sport like Kayaking in the olympics over softball and a lot of other sports. Kayaking is tough enough on flat water, paddling on rapids takes a lot of work. They mentioned during the mens final (I think) that the French Kayakers are household names meaning that it must be popular there.
Some sources of information on racewalking:
Racewalk.com has some good information on the basics of racewalking, and includes a photo essay of today’s 20K Men’s racewalk competition.
Dave McGovern’s site has some excellent articles about aspects of racewalking. (Dave also does an excellent racewalking clinic.)
The North American Racewalking Federation site has a nifty little animated figure that illustrates correct racewalking style, and an excellent description of proper technique.
I’m really at a loss to understand why you think whitewater kayak racing should be eliminated from the Olympics. It would easily meet any genuine criteria for “worthiness” that you could possibly come up with.
I think you vastly underestimate the popularity of kayaking and other whitewater sports. Yes, a very small percentage of the population are serious whitewater kayakers, but many many people are interested in the sport and think it’s “cool.” Why do you think so many TV commercials feature it?
Whitewater kayak racing is also not susceptible to any of the other criticisms commonly thrown at other Olympic sports. It is judged objectively. It demands a huge amount of athletic ability. It requires a specialized skill set. Nobobdy could argue that it isn’t really a “sport.” And you simply can’t argue that it is some obscure holdover from an earlier era that nobody really cares about.
Obviously, I’m a whitewater paddler. I paddle up to class 3+ in a hardboat. And I’ve paddled practice gates on flatwater. Do you know how freakin’ HARD it is to get through those gates without knocking them? I can’t imagine being able to do it in a rapid. While being timed. I’ve paddled with several Olympic kayakers, and you simply can not fathom the level of skill and dedication they bring to the sport.
Hyperelastic: I’d be glad to answer any questions you, or anyone else, might have about whitewater kayaking or whitewater paddling in general. I don’t know much about competitive kayaking, but I can probably answer most of your questions about the recreational end of things.
And yes, Muffin, I am regularly wet and nekkid by the side of the road.
Sun’s up. Sky’s clear. I’m starting my day with some paddling.
The kayaking takes far more skill than any of the track events. Kayaking is alo a very popular sport over here (UK).
They were showing it last night 
And I freakin’ missed it!
Re: the bikinis at the beach volleyball: I didn’t realize that it was mandated. The interview I saw made it sound like they chose to wear both the two-piece ensemble as well as the specific suits. Did anyone else notice that the Chinese team’s suits were particularly sheer?
Re: race walking: Thanks, I knew there was something more than my previous observations. Still an odd sport, IMO (though I don’t doubt that skill, etc. that goes into it).
For one, the name…“wild” water kayaking. :rolleyes: One is reminded of the Ty-D-Bowl man floundering around in his little rowboat as the toilet starts to flush.
Also, I did suggest that events without objective judging criteria should not be scored, not that they should be eliminated from the Olympics. Only the dorky, unpopular events, like “wild” water kayaking and the pentathlon should be eliminated.
Bring back the tug-of-war!!!
I know several former GB squad members, and they just call it “kayaking”, or “slalom”. The BBC calls it “kayaking”. The Olympic website calls it canoeing (encompassing as it does the Canadian class boats, which aren’t kayaks). Only you seem to call it “Wild” water kayaking. Do you have any further objections to the sport other than what it’s not called?
Right, except that you were completely wrong in that kayaking does have objective judging criteria (speed with rigid time penalties), and plenty of people think it’s not dorky. I don’t see why it’s any different to, say, slalom skiing in the Winter Olympics. I’m very sorry you don’t find it fun, but I have to say you’re being a bit of a twat about it. Couldn’t you just change channel? I’m sure there’s some beach volleyball on.
The attribute of wild water kayaking that you believe makes it dorky is its name? Impressive. Better stay on the couch.
That would be the second pic down. Beats the heck out of sitting on the couch.
Um, Hyperelastic, you really haven’t thought this through very well, have you? (Or are you just getting off on baiting people at this point?)
Um … the name ISN’T “‘wild’ water kayaking.” It’s whitewater kayaking.
Well golly gee, seeing as how my sport governing body, the Ontario Wild Water Affiliation, has re-organized itself as Whitewater Ontario, I guess this means that wild water kayaking is no longer dorky.
Whitewater kayaking has not been in every summer Olympics. Part of the reason is the cost to build an artificial river. I think the 1st time it was held was 72. (I’m pretty sure it was not in the games from 76-88.) In Atlanta they used the Ocoee river in Tenn. which is just north of the Georgia state line but even then they had to build a lot of facilities along the river to hold the events there. I haven’t heard if Bejing is going to build an artificial river or use a natural one or just leave it out.
BTW, if you have ever rafted the Ocoee river the section rafts use is not the same as the Olympic section. The Olympic section is upstream of the area most people paddle and that section is only open a limited number of days a year. The Ocoee is a dam release river which means that the amount of water in it is the same every time the water flows so that makes it a bit like an artificial river.
I’m sure it’s already been said, but “From your lips to God’s ears.” 