Mayumi Kawasaki

is a Japanese race walker from Ibaraki Prefecture. She represented her country in the 20 km race walk at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Her personal best time for the 20 km race walk is 1:28:49 hours.

A three-time Asian Race Walk Champion, she is a former national record holder and the second fastest Japanese race walker after Masumi Fuchise. Kawasaki has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on four occasions, with her best finish being tenth in 2007.

Career Born in Fukushima Prefecture, she grew up in Kasama, Ibaraki and began competing in racewalking as a teenager. Her first international success came at the 1999 Asian Junior Athletics Championships, where she came second behind China's Li Yurui in the 10,000 metres track walk. She made her senior breakthrough in 2003 with wins at the Japanese Corporate event and the Japanese National Games, before going on to set a national record time of 1:32:16 hours. She improved this to 1:31:19 hours at the 2004 Japanese Championships and was selected for the Olympic team, although injuries resulted in a slow finish in 40th place. Kawasaki won the Asian title for a second year running and was selected for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she was the third best Asian finisher with her 13th-place finish in 1:29:43 hours. She joined Fujitsu's track and field club in November 2008.

Retirement

Kawasaki retired soon after returning to Japan from the 2012 London Olympics. She left Fujitsu in January 2013.

Achievements