Overview

Australia’s highest ranked athlete on the road, Jemima Montag, has established herself as a leader in the nation’s race-walking resurgence.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympian is back for the women’s 20km race walk and will also compete in the inaugural Olympic mixed marathon race walk relay.

Following in the footsteps of a golden era of Australian race walking, the crop of walkers in Paris includes Rhydian Cowley, Declan Tingay and Rebecca Henderson eyeing both individual and team success at Pont d’Iena – a bridge spanning the River Seine.

While Jemima looks to become Australia’s second Olympic medallist in the women’s 20km event after Jane Saville secured bronze at Athens 2004, in the mixed marathon race walk relay Australia are also very competitive and could achieve an historic second race walking medal at the Games. They will have two teams on the start line after qualifying them in April at the 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Teams Championships.

The discipline will see two athletes, one male and one female, alternating over four legs of similar distance to equate to the 42.195km marathon distance. Included in the squads are individual 20km walkers Kyle Swan and Olivia Sandery, while Allanah Pitcher and Will Thompson are the reserves.

Ones to Watch 

The race walking competition is set to be fierce with Jemima, a 2023 World Championships silver medallist, joins forces with her compatriots to battle robust competition headed by Spain who boast the reigning men’s and women’s world champions over 20km – Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez.

Sport Format

There are no second chances on the roads of Paris, everyone must battle each other in the same event to get a finish on the podium.

Australia is one of only five countries to qualify two teams in the field of 25 for the Mixed Marathon Race Walk Relay.

Competition Schedule

Athletics begins on Thursday 1 August 2024 with the men’s race walk from 3:30pm AEST and the women’s from 5:20pm AEST.