Pan American Games race walk course found to be 3 km short

A failure to measure the course at the 2023 Pan American Games leaves several female athletes out of Olympic qualification in the 20 km race walk.

It was a rocky start to the first day of athletics at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on Sunday, when the women’s 20 km race walk course was found to be three kilometers shorter than the prescribed distance.

This unexpected lack of accurate course measurement led to officials quashing the finishing times, throwing the entire event into disarray. Race officials initially thought first-place finisher Kimberly García of Peru had broken the world record when she finished in an astounding time of one hour, 12 minutes and 26 seconds–11 minutes faster than the existing world record.

Confusion arose when all of the top 12 competitors finished inside the world record mark and significantly inside the Olympic 20 km race walk qualification standard of 1:29:20.

García, who had already secured a place in the Paris 2024 Olympics, told reporters she sensed something was off early in the race. “I realized it since the first kilometer,” García told the Associated Press. “The time did not coincide with the distance.”

The race walks in the Pan American Games were critical for North and South American athletes aiming to qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympics. Athletes could secure their spots by meeting the entry standard time or by earning World Athletics ranking points.

The Santiago 2023 organization committee laid the blame for the distance blunder at the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA). In their statement, Santiago 2023 organizers explained, “The APA is the only organization authorized to carry out measurements, and therefore is responsible for the official distance of the competition. We deeply regret the inconvenience for the athletes, their coaches, the public and the attending press, but this situation cannot be attributed to the organizing committee.”

As a result, race organizers quickly re-measured the course for the men’s race, which created a nearly one-hour delay for the men’s start.

This is only the second time in the last 90 years that an official Olympic athletics event was mismeasured at a continental championship. At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, the men’s 3,000m ended up being the men’s 3,400m steeplechase when the man in charge of the lap count lost track–something they do not have to worry about nowadays, in the era of electronic measurement.

The women’s 20 km race walk times were officially deemed invalid, meaning they will not be eligible for 2024 Olympic qualification.

posted Tuesday October 31st
by Marley Dickinson