Evan Dunfee continued his outstanding start to the 2014 race walking season with a breakthrough performance at a World Cup meet in Taicang, China on the weekend.
The Richmond native finished 11th in the 20-kilometre race — shattering the Canadian record in the process with a time of 1:20.13. The previous mark of 1:20.58 was set by training partner Inaki Gomez at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Gomez (1:20.18) and Benjamin Thorne (1:20.19) also went under the previous record, finishing 12th and 13th respectively.
“We couldn't have asked for better conditions for a fast race. It feels great to have my first senior Canadian record; this is the result of the amazing hard work the team put in,” said Dunfee. “I have no doubt that the three of us will be swapping the record back and forth for years to come.
“I'd also like to thank Gerry (Dragomir, personal and team head coach) for all his hard work with me over the past 10 years.”
Dunfee’s season began back in February in Mexico where he placed fifth in a very strong field at the IAAF World Race Walk Challenge. He finished the 20km race in a time of 1:23.31, which was considered a career best performance over that distance given the altitude. The McNair graduate then took a break from competing to focus on his studies at UBC. He will be racing again in Spain at the end of the month.
The men's team finished fourth overall in Taicang, just one point off the podium, the best finish registered by a Canadian team ever at this event. “The success of this young men's team is only the start of great things to come," said Team Leader Stafford Whalen. “This trio is only going to get faster and I mean a lot faster. All three are capable of future international podiums and as a team they can be a major threat to all contenders.”
The Canadian team didn’t arrive in China just two days before the race but clearly jet lag was not a factor.
“We might have been pushing our luck, traveling from Canada to China and competing on one day of rest, but the performances that we saw this weekend speaks volumes of the talent of this group of young athletes,” notes Dragomir. "Of the eight athletes on the team we had a national record, a best-ever team finish, four personal bests and one second best all-time. This was as focused and dedicated a group as I have ever coached. I look forward to working closely with this group over the next two and a half years leading to Rio, it can only get better as these athletes move toward their prime performance years.”
Gomez was happy to see his record fall to a good friend and excited of what lies ahead for the team.
“I'm extremely proud of this team,” he said. “We came here with high expectations to finish in the top eight in the team event and we finished fourth by the narrowest of margin from a podium finish. What is even more incredible is having all three of us under the previous Canadian record by more than 40 seconds.
“Hats off to Evan who came here to prove that his winter training would pay off. He now leads our group as the top Canadian. All three of us have moved closer to medal positions in the individual event. We can now turn our focus on preparing for next year's Pan Am Games and World Championships with the realistic goal of bringing some hardware home.”
