Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 101, December 2017 | Page 29

Leading up to the event,
there was quite a battle
fought for equality. Erin
Taylor-Talcott from the
USA raised her hand
when she competed with
the American men’s team
in the Race Walking World
Cup in Rome last year.
She was the first and only
woman to do so, and took
the 39 th position overall.
WALK
THIS
WAY
By Anel Oosthuizen
STEPPING UP TO 50KM
W
hat an amazing breakthrough for women’s sport, and women’s race
walking in particular. For the first time in history, this year we saw a
handful of women attempt their debut 50km at the World Championships
in London. It was history in the making when Ines Henriques from Portugal
effortlessly took the win, also adding a World Record to her list of achievements
as she was crowned the first 50km women’s race walking World Champion.
She had actually become quite an advocate for the 50km event for women,
having successfully fought for equal prize money in the USA back in 2013, and
after that she took the initiative to challenge the IAAF to include the women’s
50km event in the 2017 World Championships. And what a great day it was
when the IAAF finally announced, just a month before the champs, that it would
be including the event. That’s why only seven women competed, as there was
relatively little time to qualify and very few races left in which to do it before the
IAAF’s deadline passed, but it was still great to see that first step taken.
Although it has been confirmed that there will be a 50km event for women
in next year’s Race Walking World Cup in Taicang, China, it is yet to be
confirmed whether the International Olympic Committee will follow the same
route for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
But on the bright side, a few weeks ago we got the great news that one of
our own, Natalie Le Roux, broke the women’s 50km SA Record when she
made her debut at the 50km Inter-provincial Race Walking Championships in
George. That rocketed her to 23 rd in the World Rankings, and we hope to see
her competing on the international stage in the near future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Race Walker Anel Oosthuizen is a multiple SA
Champion and Record Holder, who represented SA at the 2016 Rio
Olympics. She recently completed a degree in B.Ed Foundation Phase at
the University of Johannesburg.
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