Yamanishi Sets Race Walk World Record
Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi set a new men's half marathon race walk world record at the Japanese Championships in Kobe, finishing in 1:20:34. The performance establishes a new benchmark in the discipline and further cements Yamanishi's position at the forefront of global race walking.
- This new half marathon record was established on Yamanishi's 30th birthday and surpassed the inaugural world record standard of 1:21:30, which had only been approved by World Athletics in December of the previous year, by 54 seconds. - Yamanishi is a decorated athlete in the 20-kilometer race walk, having won gold medals at both the 2019 and 2022 World Athletics Championships, as well as a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. - The record was set on the same course in Kobe where Yamanishi set the 20km race walk world record of 1:16:10 the previous year; during his half marathon performance, his 20km split time was a blistering 1:16:26. - This victory marks a significant comeback for Yamanishi, who was disqualified from the previous year's Japanese Championships and subsequently did not compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics. - The win secures his spot on the Japanese team for the upcoming World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Tokyo. - Race walking has several championship distances, with the 20km event being a standard at the Olympics and World Championships; the half marathon is a newer distance for which world records are officially being recognized. - An alumnus of Kyoto University's Faculty of Engineering, Yamanishi currently works for Aichi Steel Corporation while competing professionally.
