Rio 2016 Olympic race walk test event to give public a taste of the outdoor Games
In beautiful seaside setting immortalised in popular Brazilian funk song, athletes will compete on Olympic course
The race walk demands a highly technical performance from competitors (Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein)
Text: Denise Mirás
The Rio 2016 test event programme will reach the western-most Olympic Games venue this weekend, when the race walk is staged at Pontal, a spot immortalised in Brazilian popular culture. An island that is connected to the mainland by a thin stretch of sand during low tide, Pontal was celebrated in the song Do Leme ao Pontal (From Leme to Pontal), a love letter to Rio’s coastline by Brazilian soul and funk lengend Tim Maia.
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The 2016 Brazil Race Walk Cup will give athletes the chance to compete on the Olympic circuit, with various male and femal age groups competing on Saturday, before the 50km men’s senior race on Sunday, which doubles up as the Rio 2016 test event. Forty organising committee staff will work alongside colleagues from the Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt) along the course, which has had a new asphalt surface laid.
Rio 2016 athletics competition manager Paulo Funke said the main areas that will be tested are the operations centre, race logistics (such as course markings on public roads), technology (focused on timing and results) and security.
“One day is sufficient for testing, especially as we chose the day with the longer event. We will mainly be observing the new surface”
Paulo Funke, Rio 2016 athletics competition manager
Pontal is in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighbourhood, west of Barra, the main Games zone (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)
Open to public
During the Olympic Games there will be three race walk events – the men’s 20km on 12 August, and the women’s 20km and men’s 50km on 19 August – which, as with the test event, the public will be able to see without tickets. “The public will be able to come and get an idea of how things will be during the Olympic Games,” said Rio 2016 athletics manager Martinho Nobre.
“Having the race walk at Pontal is really cool, because the people on the beach will come up to watch”
Martinho Nobre, Rio 2016 athletics manager
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Not just a funny walk
The highly technical demands of race walking create one of the most distinctive styles of competition in the Olympic Games, with athletes covering great distances at high speeds with their hips wiggling and arms marching alongside (check out this video of the London 2012 men’s 20km race). The key rule is that athletes must have one foot on the ground at all times. If at any point both feet are off the ground, they are technically running (this offence is known as ‘lifting’). Rules also state that the advancing leg must straighten from the point of contact with the ground and remain straight until the body passes over it. Referees along the course watch meticulously for infringements, with three offences resulting in disqualifcation.
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The race will begin at 6.30am on Sunday, in order to avoid the warmest part of the day – as it is currently summer in the southern hemisphere, temperatures in Rio regularly reach 40 degrees. The course is 2km long and starts and finishes at Tim Maia Square.
Although it is a part of the South American Championships, the event will feature two guest Chinese athletes – Hu Yang and Mingli Wang – and one from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Albert Mukwa Ngambene. Among the four Brazilian entries are Cláudio Richardson dos Santos, 38, who has won the Brazil Cup 10 times. He intends to record an Olympic qualifying standard (four hours, six minutes) but not this weekend. Rather, he is targeting an event Dudince, Slovakia, on 19 March.
Racing at sea level in Rio during the summer does not offer a great chance of recording an Olympic qualifying standard, so the main attraction for competitors targting the Rio 2016 Games will be to get familiar with the course. Some of Brazil’s top race walkers, such as Jonathan Rieckmann, Mário José dos Santos Júnior and Moacir are currently training and competing in Europe.
Sunday's field will be made up by two Colombians, four athletes from Ecuador and one each from Venezuela and Peru.
