Olympian walks one mile faster than most people can run

Britain’s Tom Bosworth walked one mile (1,609m) faster than many runners can cover the same distance in setting a world record.

The Olympian walked 5:31.08 for the mile, or 3:25 per kilometre pace, to win the men’s event at the 2017 London Diamond League on the weekend. The mile is four laps of a 400m track, plus an additional 9m. The 27-year-old received two warnings, according to Athletics Weekly, and “eased back” over the final 400m. A third warning would have resulted in a disqualification.

Holy Sh*t! WR! pic.twitter.com/Ph2yzpdITf

— Tom Bosworth (@TomBosworth) July 9, 2017

The rules of race walking requires athletes to maintain contact with the ground at all times, as judged by the human eye, and that the leading lead must be straight at contact. According to the IAAF, rules also state that “the advancing leg must straighten from the point of contact with the ground and remain straight until the body passes over it.”

Three of the 10 starters were disqualified from the race for not following the rules of race walking. The previous one-mile world record was set in 1990 and stood at 5:36.

Bosworth is expected to contest the 20K walk at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, also in London, in August. Meanwhile, Elaine Thompson won the women’s 100m at the London Diamond League racing in sneakers, a story which went viral on Twitter over the weekend.

.