The new Olympic mixed team event in sports walking will be at the marathon distance

The new mixed team event in sports walking, which will debut on the Olympic program at the next year’s Paris Olympics, will have a distance of 42km and 195m, announced World Athletics. The marathon distance race will be held on August 7 and will be open to 25 nations, who will have to enter a team of one man and one woman. Each of the two competitors will complete two laps of just over 10km around the Eiffel Cup, with the relay arrangement being male-female-male-female.

“This format is innovative, dynamic, and unpredictable and will be easily understood by fans”, said World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon.

The other sports walking events at the Paris Olympics will be the men’s 20km and the women’s 20km. At the distance of 35km, there will be no starts, as it is in the world championships.