‘Race walk cheaters’: Olympics viewers accuse athletes of breaking marathon rules.

Paris Olympics 2024: The debut Olympic marathon race walk mixed relay saw Spain’s Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez taking home the gold. The first ever Olympic marathon race walk mixed relay on Wednesday saw Spain’s twice world champions Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez taking home the gold medal. The mixed relay made its debut at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 as it replaced the 50 km race walk. Ecuador and Australia claimed silver and bronze respectively. However, several viewers alleged that a few athletes violated the rule by lifting their feet off the ground of the walking track. “Not convinced these competitors in the walk race aren’t cheating. Looks very much to me like they’re jogging,” X user Wullie M said. “Nothing infuriates me more than race walk cheaters,” sports journalist Rob Williams said. “Cheat cheat cheat! No wonder the #TeamAustralia are winning the womens race walk mixed relay final, overtaking everyone at ease, she’s definitely jogging, you can see it a mile off, come on,” another user, Pete Childs, wrote on X. What do the race walking rules say? According to the rules, one foot of the athlete must always be in contact with the ground, as visible to the human eye Furthermore, the athlete’s knee of their advanced leg must not bend and the leg must straighten as the body passes over it. Each race walker is judged carefully and can be penalised if he bends his knee during the race. India’s Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami fail to make it India’s marathon race walk mixed relay team, comprised of Suraj Panwar, and Priyanka Goswami, could not finish the final of the mixed relay event on Wednesday.India’s team faced a series of warnings during the race, which ultimately led to their disqualification. The disqualification marks a setback for the Indian athletics contingent, which had high hopes for a strong performance in the event.