Rebecca Henderson sets women's marathon race walk world record on debut in Japan
Australia's Rebecca Henderson has set a world record in the women's marathon race walk, covering 42.195km in 3 hours 14 minutes 52 seconds at the All Japan Race Walking meeting in Takahata, northern Japan. It was her first marathon.
Race walking requires one foot to be in contact with the ground at all times, and the front leg must be straight from the moment it lands until it passes under the body. Judges disqualify walkers who break either rule, so speed comes from technique as much as fitness. The Guardian reports that her time was 19 seconds faster than the previous mark.
That old record belonged to Italy's Sofia Fiorini, who set it when winning the European Championships in Birmingham in August. Henderson, 25, is from Dandenong in Victoria and was born on 4 July 2001. She is a double Olympian and finished ninth in the 35km at last year's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The race was a steady build rather than a late surprise. Henderson passed the 20.195km checkpoint in 1:33:39, with more than six minutes in hand over Ayane Yanai, who finished second. World Athletics recorded her lead growing to 8 minutes 4 seconds as the race went on, and The Guardian reports she won the women's race by 14 minutes.
Henderson's route to the roads has been unusual. Her best-known track result came in Glasgow, where she won Commonwealth Games bronze in the 10,000m. Moving from the track to the long road walk is a change of rhythm and of stamina, and she has now turned that switch into a world best in her first attempt at the distance.
The record also carries a national thread. According to The Guardian, it is the first world record in an official championship event by a non-disabled Australian athlete in 20 years. The last one came from Nathan Deakes, who set the 50km race walk world record on the roads of Geelong in December 2006.
The same meeting produced another first. Japan's Masatora Kawano set the inaugural men's marathon race walk world record of 2:55:14. Two years ago, on the same Takahata course, he had set the 35km world record of 2:21:47. Australia's Elizabeth McMillen also finished the women's half-marathon in 1:31:31, which is an Australian record.
The marathon race walk and the half-marathon became official World Athletics race walk distances in January, replacing the 20km and 35km races. Henderson's record is the first to be set over the new marathon distance in the women's event, and it gives the new distance a benchmark for the next athletes to chase.
