Men. The World Cup for men teams was held for the first time in 1961. At first preliminary tournaments were held in third sub-groups and the final one in the Swiss town of Lugano. The town was not chosen by chance, Lugano – is the native town of the first chairman of the IAAF Race Walking Committee Armando Libote. That’s why, originally, the World Cup was called the Cup of Lugano. The team of Great Britain won the first two Cups; the Soviet team took part in 1967 for the first time. Since 1970 each team has the right to declare 4 sportsmen and the best 3 results will comprise the team event. Since 1987 the elimination competitions are not held and competitions are the World Cup ever since.
Women. The official acknowledgment women’s walking received in 1979. As the next Cup of Lugano was held in the German town Ashborne, the new competitions were called The Cup of Ashborne. The Soviet Union national team took part in the competition in 1981 and won the Cup. Aleksandra Deverinskaya was the runner-up.

Since 1993 Russia took part in competitions, being a separate team, victorious for the team was the World Cup in 1997 in Poderady and in 1999 in Mezidon).

Walking, comprising the official program, however, suffers a lot of changes and for that matter, became the subject of disputes. Great Britain can claim to be the competitions race walking creator.
In fact, there are a lot of arguments that early development of this kind of sport can be attributed to Great Britain. But still there are no doubts, that the other countries consider themselves to be pioneers in this sphere. Italians and their legions? South Africans and Bury? Let’s come to conclusion that walking race, as a kind of sport descended to 18th century and earlier, when in Great Britain competitions for walkers were held with cash as a prize.

For example we know about Sir Robert Kerry, who walked from London to Berwick in 1589 and won a big prize and about king Charles the 2d, who was famous for his walks from Whitehall to the court of Hampton. In 1670 the king and his suite observed the Lord Digby’s attempt to walk 5 miles during an hour along Newmarket Hit for the prize in 50 pounds. He walked barefoot but could not win being half a minute late. Robert Bartley from Harford, Norfolk County, born in 1790 often covered 81 miles distance from Tetford to London. In 1762 a certain Child walked 44 miles for 7 hours 57 minutes along Wimbledon Common and John Heik walked 100 miles for 23 hours 15 minutes.

Captain Barklay Allardis a Scotsman born in 1779 more well-known as Captain Barklay was famous for his numerous victories in race walking and walked practically for a consideration. In 1808 he made a contract that he would walk 1000 miles for 1000 hours one after the other. The competition began on the 1st June 1809 and was over on the 12 July. The prize was 1000 guineas.

The others also showed the public with walks difficulties, but the most famous was Charles Westhall, who at the end of 19th century, when the Amateur athletics federation of England and Wales was formed, walked 7 miles for 54 minutes along Newmarket Hit. W. Griffin could walk 8 miles and 172 yards for an hour along Lily Bringe Track.

But not all the competitions were organized in Great Britain. In 1882 in New-York, the USA, J. Migen walked 8 miles 302 yards for an hour.
We can speak about the past a lot, those days the majority of competitions were like a test for endurance and walkers didn’t take into account any rules, regulations, moreover the refereeing was not organized.

First race walking event organized in Russia dates back to the end of 19th century. On 12 April 1892 race walking was held for the first time in Russia on Petrovskey island in St.Petersburg. For example A. Dockuchaev walked 0.5 versts - for 3.28, 1 verst for 6.47, 1.5 verst - for 10.20, 3 versts- for 21.05 and at last 10 versts - for 1:14.30.

In 1893 these results were improved by G. Yavein 0.5 versts – for 2.47, 1 verst – for 5.27 and A. Deverizkoy 1.5 versts – for 9.28 and 3 versts – for 19.27.

In 1894 there is only one name in the list of the best results – A.Deverizkoy: 0.5 versts – for 2.42, 1 verst – for 5.27, 1.5 versts- for 8.33, 3 versts- for 18.12, 10 versts – for 1:07.56 and 18.5 versts - for 2:13.33.

The year 1912 is a particular one. For the first time the fast runner from Russia – Alexis Aide (Riga) took part in the Olympic Games. In Stockholm 22 participants toed the starting line for the distance of 1000 m. A. Aide had the 59.24,52 result in the preliminary contest but unfortunately wasn’t in the final. That was due to great differences in training of sportsmen in Russian and sportsmen from other countries.
The most significant sport event was organized in 1913 - the 1st Russian Olympics in Kiev. More than 800 athletes conteste. The opening of the Olympics was solemn. On the stadium there were a lot of people. The parade of participants with the banner of the Russian Olympic team was headed by the first lieutenant Raevskiy. Grand Duke Dmitriy Pavlovich and Gavril Kostantinovich took the salute. The race walking for 10000 m distance was included into the program of the Olympics where A. Ruks (Riga) won with the record of Russia - 57.42,4. The runner-up was M. Ivanov (St. Peterburg) – 1:00.10, 6, and V. Bat`ko (Kiev) was placing third -1:01.09, 6.

In 1913 A. Ruks had the result - 2:29.09, 2 (25 km) in the championship of the Baltic Region.
In 1914 in Riga the 2d Russian Olympics was held and the 4th Championship of Russia. The message of the emperor Nikolai the 2d was read to the participants of the competition at the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
There were 2 distances: 3000 m and 10000 m in the program of this race walking even.
Results:

A. Kalnyn (Riga) - 15.13,4
G. Vyitanen (Revel)
R. Dreiman (Riga)

1. A. Ruks (Riga) - 56.19,4
2. G. Vyitanen (Revel) - 57.19,8
3. V. Batko (Kiev) - 57.34,2

In 1914 A. Ruks had a record of Russia at the distance of 10000m – 53.46,0
In 1915 A. Kalnyn had a new record at the distance of 3000m - 14.48,2

The results in race walking shown by the pre-revolutionary fast runners were extremely low due to rarity of race walking competitions, lack of skilled trainers and proper treatment towards sport in general and race walking in particular.

Sport was absolutely not popular among the broad masses. It was a hobby of only a few people.
After the Great October Revolution a lot of working people went in for sport and track and field athletics in particular. General compulsory education played a great role in popularizing it. Several track and field athletics events were held on its initiative, race -walking was also included into the fixture lists. In 1922 a race - walking contest was held in the Siberian Championship. Luss from Barnaul was the first in 10 km race - 1: 00.14,0. A year later in the Ukraine Championship N.Ordin bettered this result to 57.32,7.

Since 1924 race walking has been in the fixture list of the Moscow Championship. That year a competition in race walking was part of the 2nd All-Union Sport Holiday. P. Nikolaev from Moscow was the best in 3 km race, his result was 15.37,7.

They had started to fix all-union records since 1924; it should be noted that during the pre-revolutionary years the results were worse.
In 1925 M. Rosso-Ermolov (Nizhny Novgorod) hit 3 km race in 15.21,0; and P. Nikolaev (Moscow) showed the following results: 5 km - 26.22,5; 10 km - 52.58,0 in the Moscow Championship. For more than 10 years these records hadn’t been broken. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s race - walking events were organized in many Soviet cities.

In 1929 a mass race-walking event (peshehodnaya gonka) took place in Leningrad, it was organized by the magazine “Spartak” and was dedicated to its fifth anniversary. With 359 participants it was reported to be well organized. Dzhanumov was the winner with the result of 42.20,0 in 8 km race.
The following year women also took part in Leningrad race walking. That year there were 396 participants. The best time was shown by Timofeev (27.55 in 5 km race).

With the exception of these races still few people participated in other competitions in Moscow, Leningrad and other Soviet cities.
In 1931 one of the famous track and field athletics specialists V. Starikov wrote: “Race -walking is not so popular in the USSR. I can’t but feel pity for that, because it is inferior to no other kind of sport and even excels some of them in this or that respect”.

From 1932 to 1936 walking race was not in the fixture list of the major All-Union competitions. Books and study guides of that time reflected this underestimating approach: there were some gross mistakes in walking technique description and training division into periods.
Finally, in 1936 race - walking was included into the USSR Championship.

N. Kalinin from Moscow was the best in 5 and 10 km races, having also set the USSR 5 km record - 25.38,1. His relatively low result indicated the irrational methods of sportsmen training at that time.

B. Yunnikov (Sverdlovsk) was the USSR champion for the next three years. He also had a title of the country’s record-holder in 3 and 5 km races.
N. Babarykin (Moscow) broke the USSR record in 10 km race during the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions Championship in the summer of 1940 with 50.02,2 result. Though the following month the USSR champion I. Shkodin (Smolensk) showed even better time - 49.36,2.
Shkodin scored great success in 1941. His results in 3 and 5 km races (12.01 and 20.51 correspondingly) were much higher than the world records set by Norwegian sportsman Bryn.

The same year M. Briskin (Moscow) set up a new USSR record: he finished the 10 km race in 47.56,2.
But on 22nd June, 1941 when the Great Patriotic War began the normal mode of life was broken. Many Soviet sportsmen took up arms to defend their fatherland.

The glorious victory of the Soviet people gave a powerful incentive to the new development of track and field athletics. In 1945 A. Kruklinsh (Latvian SSR) bettered the Soviet Union results in 10 and 20 km races, he finished 10 km race in 46.58,6.
During pre-war years Latvian walkers were ranked among the best in major race walking World and European Championships: Y. Dalinsh got a silver medal in 1932, A. Bubenko - a bronze medal in 1936, Y. Dalinsh won the European Championship in 1934 and set up 6 world records. Their methods and techniques were widely adopted by the Soviet sportsmen, especially after Latvia joining the USSR.
For the first time 50 km race walking was included in the USSR Championship in 1946. A. Liepaskalns (Latvian SSR) showed the best time - 4:49.35,8.

Since then it was included into the USSR team championship. This effected further development of race - walking in all the Soviet republics.

Every year more and more sportsmen went in for this kind of athletics, bettering the results of Union Republics, regions and cities. This resulted in the increasing number of masters of sport. Latvian walkers A. Xiepaskalns, A. Kruglinsh, P. Zeltinsh were rather successful, more than once they set up new Soviet records in the main distances.

1949 was the most fortunate year of all: new records were set up almost in all the distances, and some of them were better than the official world records. For example, A. Liepaskalns finished 50 km race in 4:32.03,6.
The Merited USSR Master of Sports A. Xiepaskalns got outstanding results in 1951. Participating in a 25 km walking - race he set up USSR records in 10 km race (43.30,4), in an hour’s walk (13631 m), in 15 km race (1:06.33,6), in 20 km race (l:31.23,8) and in two hours’ walk (24781 m). The success was signified by the fact that his results in 15 and 20 km races were better than the official world records.
In addition to the above mentioned prominent Soviet walkers (Adolf Liepaskalns, Arnold Kruglinsh and Peter Zeltinsh), Isay Papkov, Arvid Mengis, Sergey Lobastov, Bruno Junk, Vladimir Uhov, Antanas Mikenas, Konstantin Kudrov, Ivan Yarmysh and other sportsmen showed good results during the first post-war decade (1945-1955).

Their training went on all-the-year-round. They used the best equipment available at the time, and went through intensive training.

Firstly the works by the following specialists should be mentioned here: Ozolin N. G., Fesenko N. A., Homenkov L. S., Stepanchenko I. A., Vasiliev G. V., Semenov D. A., Kozlovskij P. I.
In 1956 – 1960 young talented race walkers appeared in the country to replace those of the older generation. They performed successfully at the International Championships. The best of them are Vedjakov Anatoliy, Spirin Leonid, Egorov Anatoliy, Golubnichij Vladimir,

Maskinskov Eugene, Lavrov Mikhail, Klimov Gregory, Panichkin Gregory.
The sportsmen achieved outstanding results at the greatest sports events of the Soviet Union, and Spartakiads (Olympics) of the USSR nations.
In 1956 during the first Spartakiade (Olympics) M. Lavrov set the world race walking record in 20 km. distance and G. Klimov had the best results in 50m. race walking with the time of 4:05.12,2.
In 1959 during the Second Spartakiade (Olympics) A. Vedjakov improved Klimov’s result to 4:03.52,2.
In mid-September 1959 the recods in the main walking distances of 20 and 50 km. were broken. Golubnichij finished 20 km marathon with the result of 1:26.13,2; M. Lavrov (50km marathon) – with the result of 4:11.18,6. In the same go Lavrov broke the world record in 30-miles walking distance with the 4:02.04,6 result.

Talented and experienced coaches providing great assistance to the sportsmen in achieving outstanding sportive results play a very important role in the soviet sportsmen’s success. The names of only few tutors of our champions and records men are listed here: Kozlovskij P. I., Polyakov V.I., Fruktov A.L., Chernyshev G.I., Issurin Z. Y., Reniel’ T.R., Brushko V.M., Lobastov S.A., Uhov V.V. And dozens of coaches might be included in the list.

A good initiative was taken by the editors of the magazine “Sport in Russia”; they were the first to organize mass 30km race walking championships. About 100 people took part in the first event in 1958, however in the following years the number of the contestants tripled. It’s a very interesting and useful championship providing the development of race walking in our country.
The number of the training people was increasing as well as the average figures of the 10 best sportsmen of the year.

The first sports meeting of the Soviet and foreign walkers took part in Moscow, 1928. There were experienced walkers among the invited foreign athletes. The winner of the 10km walking race was a sportsman from Great Britain, Clark who came with the result of 53.28,6; P. Nikolaev from Moscow came second (54,04) and got ahead of the Dames brothers from Germany and other participants of the competition.
The second championship with the foreign walkers was held in 1950 in Moscow again. Race walking competition for 10 km. was included in the programme of the contest between Russia and Hungary. From the very beginning Soviet walkers P. Zeltin’sh and A. Mengis took the lead of the race and got the gold and the silver medals accordingly.

Great International Championships including participants from Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and many other countries were held in Kiev in June, 1952, before the XV Olympic Games.

There was a tough struggle for the first place between Yunk B., the soviet sportsman, and Dolezhal I., the walker from Czechoslovakia in the 10km distance contest. They came to finish in the dead heat of 43.43. Zeltin’sh P was the third to come with the time of 44.27.
This competition proved that our walkers were well-prepared and could content for the first places in the XV Olympic Games.

In summer 1952, Helsinki, Soviet sportsmen participated in the Olympic Games for the first time. Since that time Soviet and Russian walkers have always performed successfully at the greatest World and European championships. Out of numerous victories we can distinguish the Olympic Games in Melbourne (1956) and the Worldwide Championship in Edmonton (2001) when in 20km distance competitions our sportsmen won all the tree medals. Well-known coaches including Fruktov A. L., Chernyshov G. I., Lobastov S. L., Klimov G. Y., Shvecov V. I., Podoplelov U. V., Hrolovich B. A., Semenov G. S., Bondarenko S. K., Tarasov B. G., Yakovlev B. Y., Dorovskih V. B., Nikolaev A. A., Chegin V. M., Krasil’nikov A. N., Evsjukov E. A., and others trained the whole series of outstanding walkers, and out of them Spirin A., Golubnichij V., Ivanenko V., Perlov A., Nikolaeva E. became Olympic champions and Soldatenko V., Strahova I., Potashev A., Ivanova A., Stankina I., Markov I., Rasskazov R., Ivanova O. became World Champions. The following sportsmen were the winner of the European Championships: Uhov V., Maskinskov Y., Soldatenko V., Golubnichij V., Smaga N., Shchennikov (Wennikov) M., Spitsyn V., Markov I. Men’s teams held the victory at The World Cups in 1975, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1997,1999 while Women’s teams won in 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991,1997.

The national team of Russia held a decisive victory at the European Cup in 2001. It’s necessary to mention the performance of a celebrated Russian walker Shchennikov M., who held 4 victories at the World Championships and 3 victories at the European Championships in enclosed spaces. Shchennikov M., Markov I., Stankina I., Rasskazov R. and Yefimkina L. were the winners among juniors at the World Championships and Yefimovich M., Vinnichenko N., Shchennikov (Wennikov) M., Schastnaja T., Markov I., Koroleva U., Safronova L., Demkov E., Kozlova T. held the victory among the juniors at the European Championships.

Participation of the race walkers of Chuvashia in the World Cups

1975, Grand Kevil, France
Mikhail Alekseev –10th place in 20m distance – 1:28.58,0
1st team placing

1985, Man, Great Britain
Veniamin Nikolaev – 15th place in 50km distance – 4:09.37
2nd team placing

1997, the city of Pod Brady, Check Republic
Vladimir Andreev – 10th place in 20km distance – 1:19.46
1st team placing

1999, Mezidon, France
Vladimir Andreev– 3d place in 20km distance – 1:20.29
1st team placing

2002, Turin, Italy
Vladimir Andreev– 2nd place in 20km distance – 1:21.50
1st team placing

Participation of Women walkers at the Ashborn Cups – World Cups

1981, Valencia, Spain
Aleksandra Deverinskaja – 2nd place in 5km distance – 23.18
1st team placing

1983, Bergen, Norway
Rosa Underova – 12th place in 10km distance – 47.16
2nd team placing

1985, Man, Great Britain
Aleksandra Deverinskaja – 4th place in 10km distance – 46.24
2nd team placing

1987, New York, the USA
Elena Nikolaeva – 5th place in 10km distance – 43.57
1st team placing

1993, Monterrey, Mexico
Elena Nikolaeva – 3d place in 10km distance – 45.22
Elena Gruzinova – 11th place in 10km distance – 46.56
Olimpiada Ivanova – 12th place in 10km distance – 47.02
3d team placing

1995, Beijing, China
Elena Nikolaeva – 2nd place in 10km distance – 42.32
Elena Gruzinova – 10th place in 10km distance – 43.56
3d team placing

1997, Pod Brady, the Check Republic
Olimpiada Ivanova – 2nd place in 10km distance – 41.59
1st team placing

1999, Mezidon, France
Elena Nikolaeva – 4th place in 20km distance – 1:28.23
2nd team placing

2002, Turin, Italy
Olimpiada Ivanova – 2nd place in 20km distance – 1:28.57
Elena Nikolaeva – 4th place in 20km distance – 1:29.12
1st team placing