Paris 2024 Olympics: Mixed-gender marathon race walk to debut

According to a World Athletics announcement, a mixed-gender marathon race walk will debut at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. There will be 25 teams competing in the event, each with a male and female athlete, who will cover the 26.2 mile marathon course in four roughly equal legs. Athletes will alternate between male, female, male, and female to finish two legs of somewhat more than 10 kilometers each. Due to its widespread use in athletics and connection to the Olympic Games traditions, the marathon distance was chosen. The event is scheduled to take place at 7.30 am on August 7 next year, on the same course as the individual race walking events, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in central Paris, and will be completed in about three hours.

The men’s 50km race walk has been discontinued after its final appearance at the rescheduled 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in order to promote gender equality. The mixed-gender marathon race walk will take its place.  World Athletics had proposed the inclusion of the women’s 50km event but it was rejected by the International Olympic Committee, leading to consultation between them and World Athletics on the mixed-gender event. The requirement for each athlete to complete two legs in the new marathon race walk will add an endurance component to the race, according to World Athletics. The team qualification pathway for this new event will be published shortly.

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What the chief executive of the World Athletics had to say

The chief executive of the World Athletics said, “We’re excited to have another mixed relay on the Olympic program to showcase the skills of both our female and male athletes in one event.” “This format is designed to be innovative, dynamic, and unpredictable. We believe it will be easily understood by fans, will feature exciting competition, and, importantly, it will ensure full gender equality across the Olympic track and field program for the first time,” he further added.

The individual 20-kilometer race walks that are scheduled to kick off the Paris 2024 athletics program on August 1 will take place six days after the mixed-gender marathon race walk. The new competition is anticipated to be a thrilling addition to the Olympic Games. The event is set to highlight the abilities and stamina of both male and female athletes while promoting gender equality throughout the track and field program.

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