Evan Dunfee is hoping his current comfort zone in Rio bodes well for Friday’s 50 km race walk.
The Richmond native made his Olympic debut in the 20 km race walk event on the opening day of the athletics competition at the Summer Games and produced a Canadian best finish of 10th place.
Dunfee relied on a strong finish to complete the street course in one hour 20 minutes and 49 seconds — placing ahead of training partners Inaki Gomez (12th) and Ben Thorne (27th).
Even so, Dunfee says much of his preparation for Rio has focused on his endurance for the 50 km race and he is excited for that event.
It was back in December when he set the Canadian record (3:47:48) over that distance in winning the Australian Road Walking Championships.
“This is the perfect example of why I’m a 50 km race walker,” said Dunfee, following the 20 km event. “I felt really comfortable at just over four-minute per kilometre, as soon as they upped the ante, I just don’t have that other gear, I can keep it in third gear forever, but as soon as they step into fourth I just don’t have it.
“I know I can be there; we’ll see what I can do in the 50km. I’m excited for that one, that’s what I’ve been training for.”
The race is scheduled to start at 4 a.m. (PDT) on Friday.
Richmond’s other athlete in Rio — swimmer Noemie Thomas — just missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals in the 100 metre butterfly.
The 20-year-old finished fifth in her heat with a time of 58.27 seconds.The race was eventually won by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, followed by Canadian teen sensation Penny Oleksiak.
