Liu Hong (race walker)

Liu Hong set the 20km world record of 1:24:38 in 2015, won Olympic gold in Rio and took world titles over 20km and, in Doha in 2019, 50km, a range no other woman has matched at that level. Her 2011 world title was awarded after the original winner was disqualified for doping. Small and very fast-stepping, she is the benchmark for women's walking in the 2010s and a large part of why China became the event's strongest nation.