Portuguese race walker Joao Vieira will make his 14th appearance at the World Athletics Championships

Veteran race walker Joao Vieira is on course to set a record with his 14th appearance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, which will be held from September 13 to 21. At the age of 49, Joao Vieira was named in Portugal’s squad for the 35km race walk. This will be his 14th consecutive appearance at a World Athletics Championships, having made his debut in Seville in 1999.

In his three-decade international career, Joao Vieira has been more than just a competitor. He won a back-to-back bronze medal in the 20km race walk at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, and then a silver medal in the 50km at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where he competed in extremely difficult conditions of heat and humidity.

With this achievement, Joao Vieira set his first age record, becoming the oldest medalist in the history of the World Athletics Championships at 43 years old – a record that has yet to be broken.

“This is the best medal of my athletics career, won in the most difficult competition I have ever participated in in all my 11 World Championships. Many people did not believe that I could go this far, but I never stopped dreaming”, said Joao Vieira after winning the silver in Doha.

At the time, Joao Vieira had not looked much further than the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were postponed by a year due to the pandemic. A return to the Japanese capital for the 2025 World Championships hardly seemed possible for Joao Vieira after his silver medal in Doha.

“My intention was to finish at the Tokyo Olympics, but I will consider doing one more race to add a 12th to my resume”, said Joao Vieira.

However, if Joao Vieira wants to become the oldest competitor in the history of the World Athletics Championships, he will have to return in two years. The record currently belongs to Spain’s Jesus Angel Garcia, who also competed in the 50km race walk at the 2019 World Championships at the age of 49 years and 346 days.