Kinematic characteristics of elite men's 50 km race walking

Abstract

Race walking is an endurance event which also requires great technical ability, particularly with respect to its two distinguishing rules. The 50 km race walk is the longest event in the athletics programme at the Olympic Games. The aims of this observational study were to identify the important kinematic variables in elite men's 50 km race walking, and to measure variation in those variables at different distances. Thirty men were analysed from video data recorded during a World Race Walking Cup competition. Video data were also recorded at four distances during the European Cup Race Walking and twelve men analysed from these data.Two camcorders (50 Hz) recorded at each race for 3D analysis. The results of this study showed that walking speed was associated with both step length (r = .54, P = .002) and cadence (r = .58, P = .001). While placing the foot further ahead of the body at heel strike was associated with greater step lengths (r = .45, P = .013), it was also negatively associated with cadence (r = -.62, P < .001). In the World Cup, knee angles ranged between 175 and 186° at initial contact and between 180 and 195° at midstance. During the European Cup, walking speed decreased significantly (F = 9.35, P = .002), mostly due to a decrease in step length between 38.5 and 48.5 km (t = 8.59, P = .014). From this study, it would appear that the key areas a 50 km race walker must develop and coordinate are step length and cadence, although it is also important to ensure legal walking technique is maintained with the onset of fatigue.

The biomechanics of race walking: Literature overview and new insights

“…The knee 'constraint' was highlighted in the studies after 1995, where the lower limb was straightened at heel strike (Hanley et al, 2011a(Hanley et al, , 2011bNeumann et al, 2006Neumann et al, , 2008Zhang & Cai, 2000) and the knee hyperextended for almost the 70% of the contact time, with a peak at midstance of about 10° (Donà, Preatoni, Cobelli, Rodano, & Harrison, 2009). …”

“…Douglass and Garrett (1984) pointed out similar results in a short distance (10 km) where the winner was the athlete capable of increasing SL in the last part of the race. In the 50 km both speed and SL decreased with a significant reduction of flight time, whereas SF was steady over the race; moreover ankle plantarflexion at toe off and the pelvis rotation were decreased (Hanley et al 2011b). Therefore, race pace, which is affected by a decrease in SL during the race, was more influenced by muscular fatigue than constant training speed.…”

“…The flight time has been detected in several studies and its duration (0.01 -0.05 s) varied with speed (Cairns, Burdett, Pisciotta, & Simon, 1986;Cavagna, & Franzetti, 1981;De Angelis & Menchinelli, 1992;Hanley, Bissas, & Drake, 2011a, 2011bPhillips & Jensen, 1984;Neumann, Krug & Gohlitz 2006. In race condition, Hanley et al (2011aHanley et al ( , 2011b, found a flight time of 0.03 s for a male 20 km race (speed = 4 m .…”

“…In race condition, Hanley et al (2011aHanley et al ( , 2011b, found a flight time of 0.03 s for a male 20 km race (speed = 4 m . s -1 , 14.5 km .…”

“…By pooling together data from these studies (Cairns et al, 1986;Cavagna & Franzetti, 1982;De Angelis & Menchinelli, 1992;Hanley et al, 2011aHanley et al, , 2011bMurray, Guten, Mollinger, & Gardner, 1983;Padulo et al, 2013a;Padulo et al, 2013b;Preatoni, La Torre, Santambrogio, & Rodano, 2010a;Phillips & Jensen, 1984;Rodano & Santambrogio, 1987) we computed a descriptive equation (Figure 1, SL = 0.345v + 1.041; R 2 = 0.77) which estimates SL value (m) at a given speed (v, m . s -1 ).…”