20Km men Race Walking
World Record Progression
This page presents the historical 20Km men race walking World Record Progression, including performance, athlete, date and competition details.
Korzeniowski Warsaw Race Walking Cup 2024.
Emptywords, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The men’s 20 kilometres race walk is one of the oldest road walking events in athletics and has been part of the Olympic Games since 1956. Before the introduction of official World Record recognition, the event’s history was documented through a progression of world best performances, reflecting the evolution of race walking over more than a century.
The progression below includes these historical world bests alongside the officially ratified records. The first World Record recognised by the IAAF was Jefferson Pérez’s 1:17:21, set at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. Since then, World Athletics has maintained the official record progression under modern ratification standards.
20Km Men Race Walking, World Record Progression – Data Table
| Performance | Athlete | Country | Date | Location | Competition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:16:10 | Toshikazu Yamanishi | JPN | 16/2/2025 | Kobe | Japanese 20K Race Walking Champs | |
| 1:16:36 | Yusuke Suzuki | JPN | 15/3/2015 | Nomi | Asian Race Walking Champs | |
| 1:17:02 | Yohann Diniz | FRA | 8/3/2015 | Arles | French Race Walking Champs | |
| 1:17:16 | Vladimir Kanaykin | RUS | 29/9/2007 | Saransk | IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final | |
| 1:17:21 | Jefferson Pérez | ECU | 23/8/2003 | Paris | IAAF World Championships | 1st Record ratified by the IAAF |
| 1:17:22 | Paquillo Fernández | ESP | 28/4/2002 | Turku | Race Walking International Meeting | |
| 1:17:46 | Julio Martinez | GUA | 8/5/1999 | Eisenh?ttenstadt | Race Walking International Meeting | |
| 1:18:04 | Bu Lingtang | CHN | 7/4/1994 | Beijing | Chinese Championships | |
| 1:18:13 | Pavol Blažek | TCH | 16/9/1990 | Hildesheim | Race Walking International Meeting | |
| 1:18:20 | Andrey Perlov | URS | 26/5/1990 | Moscow | Race Walking National Championships | |
| 1:19:08 | Mikhail Shchennikov | URS | 30/7/1988 | Kiev | Race Walking National Championships | |
| 1:19:12 | Axel Noack | GDR | 21/6/1987 | Karl-Marx-Stadt | GDR-URS International Match | |
| 1:19:24 | Carlos Mercenario | MEX | 3/5/1987 | New York City | 13th IAAF World Race Walking Cup | |
| 1:19:30 | Jozef Pribilinec | TCH | 24/9/1983 | Bergen | 11th IAAF World Race Walking Cup | |
| 1:19:35 | Domingo Colin | MEX | 27/4/1980 | Cherkasy | Race Walking International Meeting | |
| 1:20:58 | Daniel Bautista | MEX | 30/3/1980 | Japala | Race International Walking Meeting |
References
- World Athletics – Progression of World Athletics Record (2024 edition)
- World Athletics – World Records Progression
- World Athletics – Athletes Data Base
- Müller Stefan, Progression of world records (2025-10-07)
See also: [Men’s 20000m Race Walking WR Progression]