Race walking has been a thing for thirty years. People used to make fun of it, and so guess some still do. Fifty kilometres is a pretty long walk.
My understanding is that one foot has to be in contact with the ground at all times. But if you slow down the Olympic competitors, particularly the ones further back, it seems that there are some periods when this is not true. With the naked eye, however, this is hard to see. So is this a scam? No doubt I’m wrong, but what is the actual rule in practice? How often are competitors booted for illegal technique?
Lifting is the penalty of raising both feet off the ground. It has to be visible to the human eye, which can really only resolve it if it’s longer than .6 sec. If you get 3 lifting red cards you’re disqualified.
And, as explained to me by a walker, if you aren’t getting 1 or 2 red cards, you aren’t competing. He called it a ‘style’ event – like ballroom dancing.
Short answer: the rule isn’t that your feet can’t leave the ground. The rule is that an official while standing up and not using mirrors or other devices can’t see your feet leave the ground. Which means that, in practice, racewalkers feet will leave the ground.
Out of curiosity I had to look up the fastest race walked mile. It’s 5;36.9. That’s amazing. In my teens I have been able to run faster than that, but in my adult years, I’ve only been able to clear a six minute mile, and that felt all out to me. I can’t imagine walking a mile twenty plus seconds faster than that.
My problem isn’t that it’s “not not grueling”. So is auto racing.
My problem isn’t that it’s easy to make fun of. So is baseball.
My problem isn’t that it imposes excessive restrictions. So does soccer.
My problem isn’t that it has pedantic rules. So does golf.
My problem isn’t that it encourages playing dirty, but not too dirty. So does boxing.
My problem is that it’s no fun at all. And I’ve heard nothing in the intervening years that suggests that this has changed.
