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Top race walkers are known for their longevity, and Ernesto Canto was
certainly no exception to this rule, competing in major international
events for over a decade. Canto established a very good record in the
biennial IAAF World Race Walking Cup, where he finished 6th in the 20km
in 1979, and then finished first over the same distance in 1981. At the
1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Canto was one of a group of eight
walkers still in contention at the 15km mark, but Ernesto broke away
from his rivals with a blistering last 5km in 19min 32sec to win the
gold medal by 10 seconds. In the 20km walk at the 1984 Olympic Games in
Los Angeles, Canto duelled with defending title holder Maurizio
Damilano (Italy) for most of the race, before drawing away in the
closing stages to win in 1hr 23min 19sec. Eight days later, on 11
August, he competed in the 50km walk which was won by his compatriot
Raul Gonzales.
The 50km walk was held on an extremely hot day and just
to finish was an achievement. Although he only finished 10th, Ernesto
still received a huge reception from the crowd when he crossed the line (see photo above).
Canto did not meet with good fortune when he attempted to defend both
his Olympic and World Championships 20km walk titles. At the 1987 World
Championships in Rome he was disqualified soon after the halfway point,
and at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he was disqualified while in a
leading group of three just after they had completed 15km. Canto
finished second in the 1991 IAAF World Cup, and there were hopes that he
would have similar success at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
However, he only finished 29th in Spain and retired shortly afterwards.
(Ron Casey).
Personal bests.
20 km: 1:19:37 hrs – Xalapa, 5 April 1987
50 km: 3:52:16 hrs – Praha, 12 April 1982
ANNUAL PROGRESS.
1980 1:20:02 Cherkassy (URS) 27 APR 1980
1983 1:19:41 Bergen (NOR) 24 SEP 1983
1984 1:23:13 Los Angeles, CA (USA) 03 AUG 1984
1987 1:19:37 Xalapa (MEX) 05 APR 1987
1989 1:20:16 Harridslev (DEN) 11 JUN 1989
1991 1:20:46 San José (USA) 01 JUN 1991
1992 1:33:51 Estadio Olímpico, Barcelona (ESP) 31 JUL 1992
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