Exactly one Sunday forty years ago took place in Malmoe in Sweden, the first edition of a World Championship, with the race walking event of 50 km: the one and only race.

It is worth remembering as happened this difficult decision.

The 50km walk was part of the Olympic program since 1932 with the Games in Los Angeles, which saw the victory of Tommy Green (GBR) in 4:50:10.

After the Olympic Games of 1972 in Monaco the Olympic Committee pointed out a reduction of the events of the Olympic program in nine sports including Athletics who was forced to sacrifice the longest race of the walk.

The previous Olympic Games in Monaco the 50 km had seen at the start only 36 athletes representing 18 Countries.

The IAAF struggled long to maintain the program of the classical longest distance, but the Executive Board of the IOC before and the Congress of Varna in Bulgaria later, approved on a trial basis this reduction.

At this point in the context IAAF took hold the idea of ​​organizing a World Championship over the distance.

It was assumed that previously informally assigned the title of world champion to the winner of the Olympic Games, and then in the classic IAAF program there would be a title vacancy.

Needless to hide the fact that since 1960 the IAAF was thinking of organizing their own World Championships in Athletics, whose first edition was held under the Presidency of Primo Nebiolo, in Helsinki in 1983.

The World Championship of 50 km of road walk is then held in Malmoe in Sweden.

The number of competitors increased to 42 athletes representing 21 countries.

Won the race Venyamin Soldatenko (USSR, but born in present Kazakhstan) in 3:54:40 in front of Enrique Vera (MEX) in 3:58:14 and Reima Salonen (FIN) in 3:58:53.

Paolo Grecucci of Italy (4:04:59) ranked in seventh place and Franco Vecchio of Milan (4:12:14) ranked in seventeenth.

Vittorio Visini, at the time the most titled of Italian, did not finish the race as well as another of the favorites, the Frenchman Gerard Lelievre.

Those who completed it was the Israeli Shaul Ladany the survivor of the attack in Monaco in 1972 (30th in 4:33:02).