As every year in this period in the Statistics section the updated graphs of the speed trends in walking events have been published.
As in previous years we have followed the model that limits the historical view of the past to the last 20 years.
The years taken into consideration were therefore:
• 20 Km. Women - top (from 2002 to 2021)
• 20 Km. Women - average of the top 20 (from 2002 to 2021)
Considering the fact that many athletes who competed in the 50km in the past years have dedicated themselves to the 35km we have eliminated the women's 50km from our chart and replaced it with the 35km.
We have also reconstructed the 2020 statistics, for a timid comparison with 2021, even if we realize that the data are absolutely not comparable from a statistical point of view.
A few comments
The suspension of some RusAthletics (Russian Federation) athletes from international competitions continued in 2021.
However, the athletes from that country competed as much as possible on a national level. The related results were taken into account.
In women's 20km, the athletes of the RusAthletics (Federation of Russia) who influence our charts this year are five (in 2020 they were always five).
All these performances were obtained at the Russian Winter Champioships in Sochi on 19.2.2021. The athletes involved are:
- Yelena Lashmanova (1:25:41), 4th place in the 2021 list
- Reykhan Kagramanova (1:26:45), 7th place in the 2021 list
- Elvira Khasanova (1:27:16), 8th place in the 2021 list
- Darya Golubechkova (1:27:30), 9th place in the 2021 list
- Nadezhda Sergeyeva (1:28:27), 18th place in the 2021 list
In the first ten of the world season there are therefore:
- the five aforementioned female athletes from Russia
- five athletes from China, with the following performances all obtained in Huangshan competition on 20.3.2021: Yang Jiaju (1:23:49, new world record on 20km), Liu Hong (1:24:27 - 2nd world performance 2021), Qieyang Shenjie (1:24:25 - 3rd world performance 2021), Lu Xiuzhi (1:25:51 - 5th world performance 2021)
- one athlete from Italy, Antonella Palmisano (1:27:42, Podebrady, CZE 16.5.2021 - 10th world performance 2021)
However, we should still reflect on the fact that in the other 10 positions (from 11th to 20th) we find:
- three other athletes from China by virtue of the results always obtained in Huangshan: Ma Zhenxia (1:27:46 - 11th world performance 2021), Ni Yuanyuan (1:28:07 - 13th world performance 2021) and Ma Li ( 1:28:33 - 17th world performance 2021) and this makes it all too evident that the Huangshan race was the fastest race in the history of the 20km women;
- then we find three athletes from Spain, all with the performances obtained in Podebrady 2021: Maria Perez (1:28:03 - 12th world performance 2021), Laura Garcia-Caro (1:28:07 - 13th world performance 2021) , and Raquel Gonzalez (1:28:37 - 18th world performance 2021)
- one athlete from Colombia with the performance obtained in La Coruna on 5.6.2021: Sandra Lorena Arenas (1:28:03 - 15th world performance 2021)
- another athlete from Italy with the performance obtained in Grottaglie, ITA on 7.3.2021: Eleonora Anna Giorgi (1:28:39 - 19th world performance 2021)
- one athlete from Mexico with the performance obtained in La Coruna on 5.6.2021: Alegna Gonzalez (1:28:39 - 20th world performance 2021)
in addition to the aforementioned Nadezhda Sergeyeva (1:28:27) who is in 18th place in the 2021 ranking
The nations represented in the top 20 athletes of the 20km are the following:
| Nation | 2021 athletes | 2020 athletes | Difference |
| | | | |
| China | 8 | 3 | +5 |
| Russia | 5 | 5 | - |
| Spain | 3 | - | + 3 |
| Italy | 2 | 1 | + 1 |
| Brasil | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Colombia Mexico | 1 1 | - - | + 1 + 1 |
| Ukraine | - | 4 | - 4 |
| India | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Kazakistan | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Turkey | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Belarus | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Japan | - | 1 | - 1 |
| Ecuador | - | 1 | - 1 |
Let say a little about the women's 35km from a statistical point of view.
The only interesting fact is the performance obtained by Darya Golubechkova (RUS) who, after obtaining ANA status from World Ahletics, participated in Voronovo (RUS) on 5.9.2021 in the first 35km of her career, concluding it with the best seasonal world performance (2:39:51) which represents an average speed of 13.14 km/h.
In the previous season the top athlete was Eleonora Anna Giorgi who in Grosseto on 26.1.2020 had stopped the clock in 2:43:43 which represents an average speed of 12.83 km/h.
Absolutely insignificant is the average speed of the first 20 athletes of the 35km in the 2020 season (10.99 km/h) given the small number of athletes participating, while the same average data of the 2021 season (12.37 km/h) is of better interest and will probably be the future target for elite women who will compete at this distance.
Basically now the average differential on the first 20 performances between the 20km (13.77 km/h) and the 35km (12.37 km/h) is 1.40 km/h.
Anyone wishing to look at the 2020 season table which reported the 50km data would realize that the average speed of the first 20 athletes of the 50km was 11.05 km/h while that recorded in the 20km was 13.31 k /h with a differential of 2.26 km/h.
We will see in the coming season how these speeds evolve.