2000 Sydney Olympic Games 50K Walk
Double and Triple Gold for Korzeniowski

	Focus
	Men's 20K Men's 50K Women's 20K Viewer's Guide Road to Sydney

On a hot Sydney morning, Robert Korzeniowski made Olympic history to a standing ovation by 100,000 spectators by taking the gold in the 50 Kilometer Walk.  This gold matches his gold in the Men's 20 Kilometer Walk earlier in the week and his 50K Gold Medal from the 1996 Olympics in the 50 Kilometer Walk. 

Korzeniowski finished in 3:42.21, beating his 1996 mark by over 1 minute, as well as the silver place finisher, Alagars Fadejevs of  Latvia at 3:43.41.  Bronze went to Joel Sanchez of Mexico in 3:44.36.

The 50K Walk was "the toughest event on the hottest day" of the 2000 Olympics.  The 50K Walk is longer and more physically and mentally grueling than the marathon, as competitors must circle a 2 kilometer track with no shade in 81F | 30C heat for four hours or more.  The hot and humid course took its toll as 9 walkers dropped out, including record-holder Valeriy Spitsyn.  Eight more walkers were disqualified for lifting and loss of contact violations, including Germán Sánchez who had taken the lead in the going into the final 10 kilometers when he was disqualified. 

No man has ever before gotten gold medals in more than one walk event at an Olympic Games.  Twice before men have earned the gold medal in two successive Olympic Games, but for the shorter distances of 3000 meters and 10,000 meters.  Korzeniowski is the Golden Walker for these Olympic Games.

Korzeniowski led or was in the lead group throughout the race.

Nathan Deakes of Australia placed 6th and Craig Barrett of New Zealand placed 18th.  For the USA, Curt Clausen placed highest at number 22 in under 4 hours, followed by Phillip Dunn at 28 and Andrew Hermann at 31, both over four hours.  Both Canadian walkers earned disqualifications:  Arturo Heurta and Tim Berrett.

Chris Maddocks from Great Britain won the hearts of the crowd as he was the last finisher, coming in more than an hour after Korzeniowski.  Ian Whatley commented on the Racewalking email group, "Way to go Chris Maddocks, probably the last man born in the 1950s to compete in Olympic track competition."  Like his countryman rower Steve Redgrave, this was his fifth Olympics, but Maddocks has always finished out of the medals.  The crowd was ready to welcome him and he was cheered throughout his final lap and serenaded in the stadium with the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" by Scottish pop group The Proclaimers, with the refrain "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more." 

Maddocks Wins the Hearts of Aussies in 50K Last Place

The Race

Mens 50K Walk (31 miles)
Friday, September 29, 8:00
Course: Road Race
Entry Standard A: 4 hr 00 min
Results:  Robert Korzeniowski (Poland) gold 3:42.21, Alagars Fadejevs (Latvia) silver 3:43.41.  Joel Sanchez (Mexico) bronze 3:44.36.
World Record: Valeriy Spitsyn  3:37.26,  2000
Olympic Record: 3:38.29 Vyach Ivanenko Russia 1988 
1996 Gold Medal: Robert Korzeniowski, Poland 3:43:30

Final - 50 KILOMETRES WALK ROAD Men
Friday, September 29, 2000 - 8:00 

Pos	Athlete		Country	Mark
1	Korzeniowski	Robert	POL	3:42:22
2	Fadejevs	Aigars	LAT	3:43:40
3	Sánchez	Joel	MEX	3:44:36
4	Massana	Valentí	ESP	3:46:01
5	Matyukhin	Nikolay	RUS	3:46:37
6	Deakes	Nathan	AUS	3:47:29
7	Rodriguez	Miguel Angel	MEX	3:48:12
8	Magdziarczyk	Roman	POL	3:48:17
9	Liepins	Modris	LAT	3:48:36
10	Yang	Yongjian	CHN	3:48:42
11	Rakovic	Aleksandar	YUG	3:49:16
12	García	Jesús Angel	ESP	3:49:31
13	Wang	Yinhang	CHN	3:50:19
14	Langlois	Denis	FRA	3:52:56
15	Korepanov	Sergey	KZK	3:53:30
16	Holuša	Miloš	CZE	3:53:48
17	Tichý	Peter	SVK	3:54:47
18	Barrett	Craig	NZL	3:55:53
19	Trautmann	Mike	GER	3:56:19
20	Malík	Štefan	SVK	3:56:44
21	Trautmann	Denis	GER	3:58:14
22	Clausen	Curt	USA	3:58:39
23	Korcok	Peter	SVK	3:58:46
24	Odriozola	Mikel	ESP	3:59:50
25	Borisov	Valeriy	KZK	4:01:11
26	Potemin	Vladimir	RUS	4:02:38
27	Russell	Dion	AUS	4:02:50
28	Dunn	Phillip	USA	4:03:05
29	Caudron	Sylvain	FRA	4:03:22
30	Zujus	Daugvinas	LIT	4:06:04
31	Hermann	Andrew	USA	4:07:18
32	Shelest	Alexey	UKR	4:07:39
33	Martins	Pedro	POR	4:08:13
34	Cousins	Duane	AUS	4:10:43
35	Bruvelis	Ugis	LAT	4:11:41
36	Imamura	Fumio	JPN	4:13:28
37	Dudás	Gyula	HUN	4:17:55
38	Costin	Jamie	IRL	4:24:22
39	Maddocks	Christopher	GBR	4:52:12
	Spitsyn	Valeriy	RUS	DNF
	Stamatopoulos	Theodoros	GRE	DNF
	Di Mezza	Arturo	ITA	DNF
	Piller	René	FRA	DNF
	Lipiec	Tomasz	POL	DNF
	Kastanis	Spyros	GRE	DNF
	Ihly	Robert	GER	DNF
	Perricelli	Giovanni	ITA	DNF
	Brugnetti	Ivano	ITA	DNF
	Czukor	Zoltán	HUN	DQ
	Ciumacenco	Fedosei	MOL	DQ
	Ginko	Viktor	BLR	DQ
	Kononen	Valentin	FIN	DQ
	Huerta	Arturo	CAN	DQ
	Sánchez	Germán	MEX	DQ
	Berrett	Tim	CAN	DQ
	Koike	Akihiko	JPN	DQ

Who's the Best
Valeriy Spitsyn set a new world best of 3:37.26 in the men's 50km Walk on the last day of an incredible Russian championships on May 21, 2000.  Poland’s Robert Korzeniowski is the defending Olympic champion and the 1997 world champion. 

---

US 50K Walk Olympic Team

Curt Clausen set a US Olympics Trial record on his way to qualifying for the US Olympic Team in the 50K Walk.  The trials were held February 22, 2000 in Sacramento, California.

The US 2000 Olympics 50K Walk Team and their qualifying times:
1. Curt Clausen  3:56.16
2. Andrew Hermann 3:57.54
3. Phillip Dunn 4:07.00

Curt Clausen Interview at Active.com. 
Hermann Wants to be like Mac

Olympic Racewalking Guides

Viewer's Guide to Olympic Racewalking
Men's 20K
Women's 20K
Yueling Chen Earns US Slot, Nixed by China

Photos (c) 2000 Wendy Bumgardner, licensed to About.com