Walkover

Not to be confused with walk-on (sports).
This article is about winning contests by default. For other uses, see Walkover (disambiguation).

Wyndham Halswelle won the 1908 Olympic gold medal for men's 400 metres running in a walkover. American John Carpenter was disqualified, prompting his teammates John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins to refuse to race in protest.

A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player etc, if there are no other players available, or they have been disqualified,[1] because the other contestants have forfeited[2] or the other contestants have withdrawn from the contest. The term can apply in sport, elections or other contexts where a victory can be achieved by default. The narrow and extended meanings of "walkover" as a single word are both found from 1829.[2] Other sports-specific variations of the term exist, especially where walking is not involved: competitive rowing, for example, uses the term row over.

  1. ^ "PAP team points out error in RP form, averting possible walkover in West Coast GRC". The Straits Times. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference oed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).