20km Road Walk Record Tables

20km Road Walk Best Performances/Records

A 10000m track walk was held sporadically at the Olympics until 1924. After that it became a road race but the distance was changed to 20km and 50km after 1952. The 10km road walk returned briefly for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics as events for women, before giving way to the 20km distance.

The event was introduced at the World Masters Champs in 1977 but has only been fully established for women from 2007. The World Masters Champs is the only championship at which masters contest the 20km walk.

Where Centre records are better performances than National or World records, this likely indicates that the athlete either failed to apply for the record within the application window or was unable to meet the stricter paperwork requirements. More recent records could still be in the processing stage at World or National level.

Note: Athletes move. Wellington records applicable to athletes registered to Wellington at time of performance. Island championship records applicable to athletes registered to that island at time of performance. NZ records applicable to athletes registered appropriately to NZMA at time of performance. Oceania championship records applicable to athletes registered to OMA at time of performance. World records quote national affiliation of athlete at time of performance.

Prior to the September 2016 agreement on shared membership between Athletics New Zealand and New Zealand Masters Athletics, only those masters athletes who had joined NZMA were eligible to claim records. Now domestic Masters Records can be claimed by both ANZ and NZMA members.

	Wellington	NZ National	World
M35	1:24:37 Quentin Rew (2021)	1:24:37 Quentin Rew (2021)	1:17:02 Johann Diniz FRA (2015)
M40	2:02:47 Robert Bennett	no record	1:21:36 Willi Sawall AUS (1982)
M45	2:00:41 M Lane	1:28:32 Gary Little (1991)	1:25:03 Willi Sawall AUS (1988)
M50	no record	1:26:32 Gary Little (1992)	1:26:32 Gary Little NZL (1992)
M55	1:49:56 Peter Baillie (2007)	1:36:10 Gary Little (1997)	1:33:38 Granziano Morotti ITA (2006)
M60	2:07:47 Peter Tearle	1:51:94 Mike Parker (2016)	1:35:39 Andrew Jamieson AUS (2008)
M65	no record	2:00:41 Eric Kemsley (2016)	1:40:14 Andrew Jamieson AUS (2012)
M70	no record	no record	1:52:36 Andrew Jamieson AUS (2016)
M75	no record	no record	1:55:19 James Grimwade GBR (1987)
M80	no record	no record	2:04:49 James Grimwade GBR (1992)
M85	no record	no record	2:24:00 James Grimwade GBR (1998)
M90	no record	no record	2:34:01 Gus Theobald AUS (1987)
M95	no record	no record	2:48:19 Philip Rabinowitz RSA (1999)
	Wellington	NZ National	World

	Wellington	NZ National	World
W35	no record	1:35:59 Gabrielle Gorst (2003)	1:25:41 Olimpiada Ivanova RUS (2005)
W40	no record	1:38:47 Gabrielle Gorst (2004)	1:33:04 Maria G Mendoza MEX (2005)
W45	no record	1:52:00 C Smith (2015)	1:34:15 Lynette Ventris AUS (2001)
W50	2:16:25 Robyn McArthur (2011)	1:54:19 C Smith (2017)	1:39:51 Lynette Ventris AUS (2011)
W55	2:09:54 Terri Grimmett (2013)	2:06:01 Sue Hoskin (2010)	1:40:42 Lynette Ventris AUS (2012
W60	no record	2:10:17 Sue Hoskin (2015)	1:55:34 Sandra Brown GBR (2009)
W65	2:18:44 Jacqueline Wilson (2013)	2:18:46 Jacqueline Wilson (2013)	1:57:39 Brenda Riley AUS (2006)
W70	2:17:02 Jacqueline Wilson (2016)	2:17:02 Jacqueline Wilson (2016)	2:07:57 Elsa Meyer RSA (2016)
W75	2:25:37 Jacqueline Wilson (2022)	2:25:37 Jacqueline Wilson (2022)	2:25:37 Jacqueline Wilson NZL (2022)
W80	no record	no record	2:42:27 Denise Leclerc FRA (2013)
	Wellington	NZ National	World

World Records from World Masters Athletics as at 3 February 2023.

Oceania Championship Records from Oceania Athletics as at September 2019.

NZ Records from NZ Masters Athletics as at 16 February 2023.

NZMA Championship Records from NZ Masters Athletics as at 16 February 2023.

South Island Championship Records from NZ Masters Athletics as at February 2023.

North Island Championship Records from NZ Masters Athletics as at January 2023.

Wellington Records as at 7 May 2023.