Walkover
A walkover or W.O. (originally two words: "walk over") is the awarding of a victory to a contestant because there are no other contestants, or because the other contestants have been disqualified or have forfeited (to win, the winner can "walk over" the finishing line). The term can apply in sport but can also apply to elections, also referred to as winning "by default". The word is used more generally by extension, particularly in politics, for a contest in which the winner is not the only participant but has little or no competition. The strict and extended meanings of "walkover" as a single word are both found from 1829.
Sports
The word originates from horse-racing in the United Kingdom, where an entrant in a one-horse race run under Jockey Club rules has at least to "walk over" the course before being awarded victory. This outcome was quite common at a time when there was no guaranteed prize money for horses finishing second or third so there was no incentive to run a horse in a race it could not win. The eighteenth century champion racehorse Eclipse was so dominant over his contemporaries that he was allowed to walk over on nine occasions, and the 1828 Epsom Derby winner Cadland walked over on at least six occasions.
