Yesterday, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote, >In defense of the walk though, I do have to say this, at least the >walkers have consistently performed better at the distance events than >our running brethren.
Since I don't know much about the current state of either race walking or distance running, I was curious about how well this statement is demonstrated in the national depth data I compile annually. I haven't yet asked Mirko Jalava for permission to use his 2001 lists for this purpose, but this is what I found in the 2000 data: The charts summarize the number of athletes each country placed in the world top-100 rankings for 2000 (plus ties) and the highest-ranked of these. Since one or two placings may represent only exceptional individuals, rather than national program strength, I've truncated the lists to three placings or more. The data base drawn upon is the world list from Mirko Jalava's web site <http://www.tilastopaja.com/>. In the 20km walk, where the U.S. didn't have three men in the top 100, I've added the U.S. figures parenthetically. MEN'S 20km WALK 2000 MEN'S 50km WALK 2000 Country Top 100 Highest Country Top 100 Highest Russia 23 1 Spain 9 6 Italy 9 21 Italy 7 35 Spain 7 7 Slovakia 7 43 Mexico 7 8 Russia 6 1 Japan 6 11 Germany 6 29 China 6 15 Mexico 5 8 Belarus 5 2 Japan 5 32 Germany 4 6 Poland 4 4 Latvia 4 19 France 4 16 Australia 4 27 China 4 23 Poland 3 4 Latvia 3 7 Slovakia 3 35 Australia 3 15 (United States 0 -) United States 3 52 Great Britain 3 57 Cuba 3 75 Sweden 3 79 25 countries represented 34 countries represented 100th = 1:24:33 100th = 4:07:59 16 countries with 3 or more! WOMEN'S 20km WALK 2000 WOMEN'S 10km WALK 2000 Country Top 100 Highest Country Top 101 Highest Russia 18 1 Russia 24 1 Italy 8 6 Italy 10 8 China 7 8 China 8 9 Ukraine 6 20 Belarus 6 15 Belarus 5 12 Germany 6 52 Australia 5 17 Ukraine 5 16 Romania 5 19 Romania 5 26 Spain 5 30 Mexico 5 37 Mexico 5 37 Spain 4 30 United States 5 51 Hungary 4 43 Greece 4 47 United States 3 75 Kazakhstan 3 28 Germany 3 33 27 countries represented 26 countries represented 100th = 1:35:46 100th = 46:42 MEN'S 5,000 METERS 2000 WOMEN'S 5,000 METERS 2000 Country Top 100 Highest Country Top 100 Highest Kenya 35 4 United States 12 10 Ethiopia 10 9 Kenya 11 2 United States 9 37 Japan 11 61 Spain 7 25 Ethiopia 10 1 Morocco 5 1 Russia 6 6 Australia 4 58 Australia 6 32 Italy 4 61 Ireland 5 4 France 3 32 China 4 26 Germany 3 59 Spain 4 39 Romania 3 3 France 3 15 Mexico 3 47 Italy 3 61 24 countries represented 29 countries represented 100th = 13:28.65 100th = 15:29.36 MEN'S 10,000 METERS 2000 WOMEN'S 10,000 METERS 2000 Country Top 100 Highest Country Top 100 Highest Kenya 29 1 Japan 23 13 Japan 19 22 United States 10 33 Spain 7 9 Russia 8 16 Ethiopia 5 4 China 7 12 Great Britain 4 25 Ethiopia 6 1 United States 4 30 Kenya 6 5 Italy 4 36 Portugal 4 3 Morocco 3 13 Italy 4 11 Mexico 3 17 Spain 4 25 Portugal 3 48 Germany 3 34 Australia 3 39 24 countries represented 26 countries represented 100th = 28:16.00 100th = 32:32.77 By this definition of "distance running," it does not seem to be the case that U.S. walkers have consistently performed better than U.S. distance runners. If we add the marathon data, there may be somewhat more support for "altda's" generalization. Again, I've added the U.S. data parenthetically: MEN'S MARATHON 2000 WOMEN'S MARATHON 2000 Country Top 101 Highest Country Top 100 Highest Kenya 40 4 Japan 22 2 Japan 13 2 Kenya 15 1 Ethiopia 6 18 Russia 12 16 Italy 6 20 China 8 14 France 5 24 Italy 7 8 South Africa 5 39 Ethiopia 6 12 Spain 4 9 North Korea 4 35 Russia 4 60 Germany 4 37 (United States 1 3) Romania 3 4 (United States 2 84) 22 countries represented 24 countries represented 100th = 2:11:23 100th = 2:32:25 And, just so the steeplechasers won't feel neglected, as usual: MEN'S 3Km Steeplechase 2000 WOMEN'S 3Km Steeplechase 2000 Country Top 100 Highest Country Top 65 Highest Kenya 18 1 United States 15 7 United States 15 19 Russia 8 2 Spain 9 8 France 8 14 France 8 18 Romania 5 1 Morocco 5 2 Australia 4 19 Italy 5 32 Brazil 4 39 Algeria 4 10 Ukraine 3 3 Germany 4 16 New Zealand 3 29 Russia 3 26 Finland 3 31 Portugal 3 49 Sweden 3 32 Australia 3 75 Ethiopia 3 81 (event not contested in world champs) 28 countries represented 16 countries represented 100th = 8:33.56 65th = 10:44.10 Apparently, on the basis of representation in the world's top 100 rankings in their events, walkers did not perform better internationally than steeplers, or in the other comparisons made, with the exception of the marathon. RR
