WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: women's 20km race walk

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023 – 1 Maria Perez (ESP) 1:26:51, 2 Jemima Montag (AUS) 1:27:16, 3 Antonella Palmisano (ITA) 1:27:26
2022 – 1 Kimberly Garcia-Leon (PER) 1:26:58, 2 Katarzyna Zdzieblo (POL) 1:27:31, 3 Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) 1:27:56
2019 – 1 Liu Hong (CHN) 1:32:53, 2 Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) 1:33:10, 3 Yang Liujing (CHN) 1:33:17

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

2024 – 1 Yang Jiayu (CHN) 1:25:54, 2 Maria Perez (ESP) 1:26:19, 3 Jemima Montag (AUS) 1:26:25
2020 – 1 Antonella Palmisano (ITA) 1:29:12, 2 Sandra Arenas (COL) 1:29:37, 3 Liu Hong (CHN) 1:29:57

Fastest winning times in World Athletics Championships history

1:25:41 – Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS), 2005
1:26:18 – Yang Jiayu (CHN), 2017
1:26:51 – María Pérez (ESP), 2023

Slowest winning time in World Athletics Championships history

1:32:53 – Liu Hong (CHN), 2019

Best marks on Japanese soil

1:26:33 1 Nanako Fujii (JPN) - Kobe 16.02.2025
1:27:51 1 Jemima Montag (AUS) - Nomi 19.03.2023
1:27:56 1  Liu Hong (CHN) - Kobe 17.02.2019

Best marks on Asian soil

1:23:49 1 Yang Jiayu (CHN) - Huangshan 20.03.2021
1:24:47 2 Liu Hong (CHN) - Huangshan 20.03.2021
1:24:45 3 Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) - Huangshan 20.03.2021

Biggest winning margins

1:24 2005 – 1:25:41 Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS), 1:27:05 Rita Turava (BLR)
1:01 2001 – 1:27:48 Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS), 1:28:49 Valentina Tsybulskaya (BLR)
0:44 2011 – 1:30:00 Liu Hong (CHN), 1:30:44 Elisa Riguado (ITA)

​​Smallest winning margins

0:00 2015 – 1:27:45 Liu Hong (CHN), 1:27:45 Lu Xiuzhi (CHN)
0:01 2017 – 1:26:18 Yang Jiayu (CHN), 1:26:19 Maria Guadalupe González (MEX)
0:02 1999 – 1:30:50 Liu Hongyu (CHN), 1:30:52 Wang Yan (CHN)

Multiple winners

1987/95 - Irina Stankova (URS/RUS)*
2001/05 - Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)
2011/13/15/19 - Liu Hong (CHN)

(*10km race walk)

Winners by country

6 - China
4 - Russia
1 - Ireland
1 - Peru
1 - Spain

Five historic facts

• The 20km race walk was added to the programme at the 1999 World Championships in Seville. The 10km race walk was part of the programme between 1987-1995 and the 10,000m race walk was part of the programme in 1997
• China has won this title on six occasions. Four of those titles were won by Liu Hong between 2011 and 2019
• Kimberly Garcia Leon (PER) won Peru's first ever gold medal in World Championships history in Oregon in 2022 when she swept the 20km and 35km race walk titles
• Maria Perez's (ESP) winning time in Budapest in 2023 of 1:26:51 was the third fastest winning time in World Championships history 
• Susanna Feitor (POR) and Ines Henriques (POR) have both made a record 11 appearances at the World Championships

Potential storylines

• Can Maria Perez (ESP) win her fourth world title and her second race walking double at the World Championships?
• Can Antonella Palmisano (ITA) win her second 20km race walk title on Japanese soil? She won the 20km race walk title on her birthday at the 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo
• All three medallists from the 35km race walk are due to return to the 20km race walk: Perez, Palmisano, Paula Milena Torres (ECU)
• Nanako Fujii (JPN) leads the entry-list with 1:26:33. Japan has never won a medal in this event in World Championships history
• What is the shape of Olympic champion Yang Jiayu (CHN)? She has only raced once this year...in a domestic mixed marathon race walk relay