Olympics viewers left baffled after spotting ‘every single’ athlete is ‘cheating’ in men’s walking race

Sports fans have expressed concerns about potential cheating at this year's Olympics.

This year's festivities are now in full swing and set to conclude on Sunday, August 11. And, as with most Olympic Games over the years, there have already been some controversies.

One topic of conversation of late has been one of today's boxing match (August 1) that saw Italy's Angela Carini go up against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.

While Khelif was disqualified from last year's World Boxing Championships for having high testosterone levels, she was still able to take part in the Games.

The Paris Olympics started on July 26, 2024. (Christian Liewig - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

But her fight against Carini was short lived after the Italian boxer called it quits just 46 seconds in.

It's believed Carini sustained a broken nose within this short time in the ring.

Away, moving on from the boxing, some Olympics viewers have accused people taking part in the men's 20km walk race of cheating.

There are strict rules athletes must follow when taking part in such events. World Athletics explains: "During the 20km race walk, athletes must have one foot in contact with the floor at all times. Failure to do this is known as ‘lifting’.

"Added to this, the athlete’s advancing leg must straighten from the point it touches the ground until it passes under the body – this differentiates the discipline from running."

But in slow-motion images from today's race, it appears as if there are moments that some of the athletes feet were off the ground at the same time.

Sharing a clip of the race to Reddit, one person pointed out: "While watching the men’s 20km walk, I noticed that every single walker is 'cheating'. Is there a large amount of leeway in the sport?"

One person replied on the thread: "I’m watching this sh*t right now as well and it makes NO SENSE. They’re all literally jogging/running."

"Olympic walking should be renamed odd jogging," said another.

Someone else wrote: "It took me half an hour of watching to realise this was a competitive WALKING event and not running. Oh well, can't get caught cheating if everyone's cheating I guess."

Some people suggested the athletes were running rather than walking. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

But others argued that the rules the athletes have to follow are only to be analyzed by the naked eye, not by slow-mo videos.

"It has to be discernable to the naked eye, not in a slowed down video," someone alleged. "It is legal to have both feet off the ground within that very narrow margin."

UNILAD have approached World Athletics for clarification on the matter.

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