2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 20 kilometres walk

Events at the 2009 World Championships
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men		women
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The Women's 20 km Walk event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held throughout the city of Berlin on August 16, beginning and ending at the Brandenburg Gate.

Undefeated since May 2007, the Olympic and World champion Olga Kaniskina was a clear favourite. Russian champion and second fastest of the year Vera Sokolova was predicted as a possible medallist, as were Sabine Krantz and Kjersti Platzer who had both won on the racewalking circuit prior to the competition. Amongst the other fastest athletes before the championships were Russians Anisya Kirdyapkina and Larisa Emelyanova, while Olympic medallist Elisa Rigaudo and Universiade medallist Masumi Fuchise were suggested as other contenders for the podium.

Competing on the course along the Unter den Linden boulevard, German Sabine Krantz led early on, but dropped out halfway into the race, and Norwegian Platzer was disqualified with five kilometres to go. Kaniskina emerged as the clear winner, becoming the first woman to win the racewalking gold in consecutive championships. Forty-nine seconds behind her was the surprise silver medallist Olive Loughnane, who won Ireland's first championship medal since 2003, and her first ever medal at a major championships. Liu Hong took the bronze, while Russian teenager Kirdyapkina took fourth place.

Kaniskina's victory completed a Russian men's and women's 20 km double with Valeriy Borchin, and she received a winner's prize of $60,000 for her achievement. Her win highlighted her success in an event in which she had won an Olympic gold, two World Championships titles, and a gold in the World Cup in just three years.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Olga Kaniskina Russia	Olive Loughnane Ireland	Liu Hong China

Records

World record	Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)	1:25:41	Helsinki, Finland	7 August 2005
Championship record	Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)	1:25:41	Helsinki, Finland	7 August 2005
World leading	Olga Kaniskina (RUS)	1:24:56	Adler, Russia	28 February 2009
African record	Susan Vermeulen (RSA)	1:36:18	Mézidon-Canon, France	2 May 1999
Asian record	Wang Yan (CHN)	1:26:22	Guangzhou, China	19 November 2001
North American record	Graciela Mendoza (MEX)	1:30:03	Mézidon-Canon, France	2 May 1999
South American record	Miriam Ramón (ECU)	1:31:25	Lima, Peru	7 May 2005
European record	Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)	1:25:41	Helsinki, Finland	7 August 2005
Oceanian record	Jane Saville (AUS)	1:27:44	Naumburg, Germany	2 May 2004

Qualification standards

A time	B time
1:33:30	1:38:00

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
August 16, 2009	12:00	Final

Results

Olga Kaniskina defended her 20 km walk World Championships title

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Olga Kaniskina	Russia	1:28:09
	Olive Loughnane	Ireland	1:28:58	SB
	Liu Hong	China	1:29:10	SB
4	Anisya Kirdyapkina	Russia	1:30:09
5	Vera Santos	Portugal	1:30:35
6	Beatriz Pascual	Spain	1:30:40
7	Masumi Fuchise	Japan	1:31:15
8	Kristina Saltanovič	Lithuania	1:31:23	SB
9	Elisa Rigaudo	Italy	1:31:52
10	Susana Feitor	Portugal	1:32:04
11	Inês Henriques	Portugal	1:32:51
12	Kumi Otoshi	Japan	1:33:05
13	Larisa Emelyanova	Russia	1:34:31
14	Vera Sokolova	Russia	1:34:35
15	Sniazhana Yurchanka	Belarus	1:34:57
16	Ana Maria Groza	Romania	1:35:19
17	Valentina Trapletti	Italy	1:35:33	SB
18	Yang Mingxia	China	1:35:42
19	Zuzana Schindlerová	Czech Republic	1:35:47
20	Tania Regina Spindler	Brazil	1:35:51
21	Evaggelía Xinoú	Greece	1:35:56
22	Jess Rothwell	Australia	1:36:01
23	Claudia Stef	Romania	1:36:09
24	Brigita Virbalytė	Lithuania	1:36:28
25	Marie Polli	Switzerland	1:36:44
26	Zuzana Malíková	Slovakia	1:37:47
27	Claire Tallent	Australia	1:38:12
28	Agnieszka Dygacz	Poland	1:38:36
29	Alessandra Picagevicz	Brazil	1:38:50
30	Geovana Irusta	Bolivia	1:39:16
31	Chaima Trabelsi	Tunisia	1:39:50
32	Svetlana Tolstaya	Kazakhstan	1:40:41	SB
33	Johana Ordóñez	Ecuador	1:42:27
34	Anamaria Greceanu	Romania	1:43:35
35	Rachel Lavallée	Canada	1:45:45
36	Olha Yakovenko	Ukraine	1:45:55
37	Cristina López	El Salvador	1:47:33	SB
	Cheryl Webb	Australia		DQ
	Johanna Jackson	Great Britain		DQ
	María Hatzipanayiotídou	Greece		DQ
	Yang Yawei	China		DQ
	Monica Svensson	Sweden		DQ
	Mária Gáliková	Slovakia		DQ
	Mayumi Kawasaki	Japan		DQ
	Kjersti Plätzer	Norway		DQ
	María Vasco	Spain		DNF
	Teresa Vaill	United States		DNF
	Sabine Krantz	Germany		DNF

DNF = did not finish | DNS = did not start | DQ = disqualification | NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result) | Q = qualification by place in heat | q = qualification by overall place

References

General

• Women's 20 km walk results (Archived 2009-09-08). IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-16.

Specific