WALKING is not exactly a sport with a household following. When Chris Erickson tells people he's a racewalker, the most common reaction he gets is, ''What was that girl's name who got disqualified in Sydney? I remember watching that.''
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Jane Saville's misfortune at the Sydney Olympics might have been the best thing for the sport of racewalking. Had she won the 20 kilometre event, who knows if it would have stuck in people's minds as did her heartbreaking disqualification, just outside the Olympic stadium, moments from a gold medal.
For Erickson, that reaction is a reminder of the fate every walker faces when they line up at the start of a race.
''Every walker will get disqualified at some point in their career,'' the 30-year-old says. ''Unfortunately for me, the only time I've been disqualified was at the Beijing Olympics … so while Beijing was the highlight, it was also the lowlight of my career.''
On Sunday, Erickson, whose father, Tim, represented Australia in the walk at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games, will race for another chance at his Olympic dream. To get there, he will need to beat the former world-record holder Nathan Deakes at the Australian 50km championships in Melbourne.
The Australian Institute of Sport colleagues will be walking for the only remaining place on the Australian Olympics team for the 50km event. Second place, or a disqualification, will leave either athlete under pressure to qualify in their non-preferred 20km race.
Sunday's race is a lifeline for Erickson, who has registered the Olympic qualifying time, but was beaten by Deakes in March for Australia's third and last spot at the world championships in South Korea. Jared Tallent and Luke Adams qualified there for the Olympic team by finishing in the top eight. Deakes, 34, who has fought injury over the past four years, was leading that race until a hamstring problem forced him to pull out after 35km. The withdrawal requires him to prove his fitness in another battle with Erickson for the third spot.
It might be easy to ridicule a walker's action but the sport is no stroll in the park, as Erickson's wife, Rachel, learnt early in their relationship. ''I decided to go for a run and suggested to Chris he could come too, but he walk and I run,'' she says. ''I kept up with him for 2km and then he was well ahead of me. That taught me to respect the sport a great deal.''
To replicate the speed of the 50km event, the equivalent of walking the roads from Bondi to Palm Beach, Erickson advises setting a treadmill at 13 km/h and keeping up with it ''for the better part of four hours. For the 20k, bump it up to 15 [km/h] for 80 minutes''.
And resist the urge to break into a jog. Racewalkers must have one foot touching the ground at all times, and the front leg straight when the heel makes contact. If your technique wanes, judges can report you. Three strikes, you're out.
