Too many walkers enter races and do not know what the rules are. 

 It is important to understand that judges look for two things; loss of contact and a bent knee when the leading leg lands and passes under the body. 

• Yellow Paddle − The judges can issue a yellow paddle to the walker as a caution when the walker is very close to breaking the above two rules. A walk judge can issue a yellow paddle for the same athlete only twice, once for loss of contact and once for bent knee.

• Red Card − Out of the appointed judges of the event, if any one judge has an opinion that the athlete has violated any of the above two rules, at that instant the judge issues a silent red card for that particular walker and will send it to the chief judge. Red cards are not notified to the athlete directly by individual judges, but in major competitions, will be displayed on a posting board visible to athletes to allow them to take note and correct their technique. Every single judge can issue a red card to all the walkers but only once in the whole competition.

• Disqualification of an Athlete − An athlete can only be disqualified from the walking competition by the chief judge. If the chief judge gets three such individual red cards from three different judges, they call for that particular athlete’s disqualification from the competition by placing a red paddle in front of the walker. The yellow paddles issued to the walkers are not considered as criteria for disqualification. 

• Penalty Zone - Particular competitions may use a penalty zone (and if they do, should be explicitly stipulated in the rules). This is when a time penalty is added on after three red cards have been recorded, and disqualification will ensue if a fourth red card is given. If three red cards are received by the chief judge and the athlete has not yet finished the race, the athlete may be directed into a penalty zone area by an official and made to wait out their time penalty before being permitted to finish the race.

To download the latest judging forms needed in a race, please see the race walking section in the following link: