Henderson walks 3:14:52 marathon race walk world record
Australia's Henderson lowers the women's mark and Japan's Kawano puts the first men's record on the board.
Australia's Rebecca Henderson walked 3:14:52 to better the women's marathon race walk world record, World Athletics says. On the same day, Japan's Masatora Kawano set the inaugural men's world record for the distance at 2:55:14.
A historic day for marathon race walking
World Athletics called it "a historic day for marathon race walking" and pointed to a flash report on both marks. Kawano's is the first men's record on the board for the event, so there was no previous time to beat. Henderson's time replaces an existing women's mark.
The comparison runners actually made
Race results journalist David Monti put the two times next to the yardstick most road runners carry in their heads, the Boston Marathon qualifying standard. By his reckoning, Henderson's walk would have been a BQ by 10 minutes. Kawano, walking nearly 20 minutes faster in absolute terms, would have missed by 15 seconds, because the men's standard for his age group is tougher than the women's.
That is the line that makes the numbers land. A woman walking a marathon beat the time a lot of runners spend years chasing, and she did it with a technique that requires one foot in contact with the ground at all times and a straightened leg from first contact.
What it actually means
The marathon race walk is a newer championship event, which is why there was an open slot for a men's world record at all. Record books for a distance this young fill in fast, and 2:55:14 is simply the first number anyone has to aim at. Expect it to move.
Henderson's side of the day is the harder one. She did not inherit an empty page, she lowered a standing mark, and 3:14:52 over 42.2 kilometres of judged walking is the sort of time that gets shared well outside the race walk world. World Athletics posted both results together, and the flash report has the full detail on each.
Henderson made a #BQ by 10 minutes, but Kawano missed by 15 seconds
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