20 kilometres Race Walk, Women

Track & Field News had China sweeping the medals in this event in its pre-Olympic predictions, with Liu Hong, Yang Jiayu, and Qieyang Shijie having moved to 1-2-3 on the all-time list in March 2021. Not to be.

As with the marathons, the race walks were moved to Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which had also hosted the 1972 Olympic Winter Games, because of concerns over the Tokyo summer heat. The day of the 20 km walks still dawned very hot and humid, as the race started at 1630 with a temperature of 31° C. (88° F.), with 68% humidity.

Italy’s Antonella Palmisano was in the lead pack throughout but went to the lead herself at 16 km. She led to 18 km when she picked up the pace even more, eventually pulling away to win gold in 1-29:12. Yang was with the leaders until 18 km when she picked up a third loss of contact warning and had to serve 2 minutes in the penalty box, eventually finishing 12th. Behind Palmisano, Colombia’s Sandra Arenas took the silver medal, 25 seconds behind Palmisano, while China’s Liu Hong did get them one medal, finishing third.