Richmond's own racewalking Olympian placed first in a 20km event this weekend in Australia and set a new North American record.
Evan Dunfee came in first in the Australian 20km Racewalking Championships in Adelaide on Feb. 16 and finished with a record time of 1:17:29 -- a full seven seconds faster than the 26-year-old North American record set by Guatemala's Julio Martinez.
To achieve the record, Dunfee's average pace was three minutes and 53 seconds per kilometre.
His time for the 20-km race was 24 seconds shorter than his previous personal best.
Earlier this year, Dunfee also set a new North American record at the 10,000-metre World Tour Race in Canberra, Australia, with a time of 38 minutes and 8 seconds. In that race, he beat his personal best from last year by 17 seconds.
Dunfee has been race walking for a long time and the 50km racewalk category used to be his "bread and butter." That is, until the International Olympic Committee decided to cancel his event after the Tokyo Olympics.
"After winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 in the last-ever 50km race, I thought my career was likely coming to an end," he told the Richmond News.
"To have reinvented and reinvigorated myself as a speedy 20km athlete has been so fulfilling and rewarding."
Despite "disappointing" results at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Dunfee finished fifth due to sickness a week before his event, he said this season felt "like a chance to redeem" himself.
"Our world championships are in Tokyo this summer and it would be rather poetic for my journey to stand back on the podium over the shorter distance in the same stadium where I thought my career might be over."
Dunfee is currently on his way back home to Richmond to prepare for the KidSport Richmond Creating Community Champions Gala on Feb. 28 for which he is one of the athlete ambassadors.
KidSport is a charity that helps break down financial barriers to sports participation. The charity helped more than 500 kids play a season of sports in 2024.
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