The key facts
- Masatora Kawano covered the marathon distance in race walking in 2:55:14; the federation standard is 2:56:30
- Marathon race walking officially replaced the 35 km distance on January 1, 2026
- Rebecca Henderson updated the women's world record — 3:14:52
First record in the new discipline
Japanese athlete Masatora Kawano has become the first holder of the world record in men's marathon race walking. At the All-Japan meet in Takahata, the 28-year-old athlete covered 42 kilometers 195 meters in 2 hours 55 minutes 14 seconds, as reported by World Athletics. The competition took place in pouring rain: at the 36th kilometer Kawano broke away from the leading group and finished first. Silver went to his compatriot Kazuya Iwai (2:55:55), and bronze to Kazuki Takahashi (2:56:45).
A new discipline and the women's record
Marathon race walking became an official discipline on January 1, 2026, replacing the 35-kilometer distance. To register the first men's world record, the international federation set a standard of 2 hours 56 minutes 30 seconds — Kawano met it on his first attempt, though the result still has to go through the official ratification procedure. At the same meet, Australian Rebecca Henderson updated the women's world record, covering the distance in 3 hours 14 minutes 52 seconds. The previous mark by Italy's Sofia Fiorini, according to Life.ru, stood for just over two months.
Significance of the event
The appearance of the first world records in marathon race walking sets the starting benchmarks for the new Olympic distance that replaced the 35 km walk: athletes and federations now know the specific time targets — 2:56:30 for men and 3:14:52 for women. For the athletes themselves, this means that any future results will be compared with the marks of Kawano and Henderson, and Kawano's record itself remains provisional until officially ratified by the federation. Separately, Life.ru recalls a recent incident at the Asian Games, where Kazakhstan's Ainur Toxanbayeva was stripped of the gold medal in marathon race walking (3:22:20) because her shoes were not on the list of World Athletics-approved models — this underscores how strict the regulatory control remains in this discipline.
