The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 20 kilometres race walk, as recognised by the IAAF. Notice that the records for road walk and track walk are considered separately.
World record progression
Ratified Not ratified Ratified but later rescinded Pending ratification
Time Athlete Date Place 1:38:43 1911-10-04 Berlin, Germany 1:37:57 1913-07-13 Paris, France 1:34:15 1933-08-13 Český Brod, Czechoslovakia 1:33:25 1936-06-07 Fürstenwalde, Germany 1:32:12 1937-05-30 Malmö, Sweden 1:31:44 1946-06-10 Stockholm, Sweden 1:31:21 1955-06-05 Prague, Czechoslovakia 1:30:36 1955-09-23 Kiev, Soviet Union 1:30:00 1956-07-25 Prague, Czechoslovakia 1:28:39 1957-04-13 Kiev, Soviet Union 1:27:29 1959-07-07 Moscow, Soviet Union 1:27:04 1959-07-15 Moscow, Soviet Union 1:25:58 1959-09-06 Moscow, Soviet Union 1:25:22 1968-07-21 Leningrad, Soviet Union 1:25:19 1972-05-07 Berlin, Germany 1:24:50 1972-07-30 Munich, Germany 1:23:40 1976-05-30 Bydgoszcz, Poland 1:23:30 1978-07-19 Vilnius, Soviet Union 1:23:12 1978-08-30 Prague, Czechoslovakia 1:22:19 1979-05-13 Klaipėda, Soviet Union 1:22:16 1979-05-19 Valencia, Spain 1:21:04 1979-06-09 Vretstorp, Sweden 1:21:01 1979-06-09 Raisio, Finland 1:21:00 1980-03-30 Xalapa, Mexico 1:19:35 1980-04-27 Cherkasy, Soviet Union 1:19:30 1983-09-24 Bergen, Norway 1:19:24 1987-05-03 New York City, United States 1:19:12 1987-06-21 Karl-Marx-Stadt, GDR 1:19:08 1988-07-30 Kiev, Soviet Union 1:18:20 1990-05-26 Moscow, Soviet Union 1:18:13 1990-09-16 Hildesheim, West Germany 1:18:04 1994-04-07 Beijing, PR China 1:17:46 1999-05-08 Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany 1:17:22 2002-04-28 Turku, Finland 1:17:21 2003-08-23 Paris, France 1:17:16 2007-09-29 Saransk, Russia 1:17:02 2015-03-08 Arles, France 1:16:36 2015-03-15 Nomi, Japan 1:16:10 2025-02-16 Kobe, Japan
See also Women's 20 kilometres walk world record progression
References