Evan Dunfee

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Evan Dunfee
Evan Dunfee 2021.jpg
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1990-09-28) September 28, 1990 (age 31)
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
CountryCanada
SportAthletics
Event(s)Racewalking
Medal record
Men's Racewalking
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 50 km walk
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Doha 50 km walk
2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rome 20 km
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto 20 km walk
North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Toronto 20 km
Jeux de la Francophonie
Silver medal – second place 2013 Nice 20 km
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Kazan 20 km (team)

Evan Dunfee (born September 28, 1990)[1] is a Canadian race walker and Olympian. An Olympic and World medalist, Dunfee first set the Canadian record in the 50 kilometres race walk (at 3:41:38) at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he placed fourth. He went on to win bronze medals at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics, both of those the last time the 50 km was to be featured as an event.

History[]

He competed for his national team in the 50K walk at the 2013 World Championships, finishing in under 4 hours at 3:59:28. He won a bronze medal with his team at the 2013 World University Games where two of the winning Russian race walkers, Denis Strelkov and Andrey Ruzavin have since been suspended for doping violations. Dunfee is the 2012 champion and record holder for the 20 km walk at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics. He was the silver medalist at the Athletics at the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie. He has several near misses finishing fourth at the 2009 Pan American Race Walking Cup, the 2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup, 2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup and the 2012 Oceania Race Walking Championships and sixth at the 2010 Commonwealth Games[2] usually very close to teammate and training partner Gomez.

Dunfee grew up and currently lives in Richmond, British Columbia, training up to 50 km a day.[3] He attended Kingswood Elementary and Matthew McNair Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2014 with a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology.[4] In his free time, he writes for Canadian Running Magazine.[5] His work has been quoted by Associated Press[6] and Inside the Games.[7] Additionally, he is a KidSport ambassador.[8] In 2018, in support of KidSport's 25th anniversary, he raised funds and walked 25km a day for 25 days.[9]

In July 2016, he was named to Canada's Olympic team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.[10] In the 50-kilometre race walk, Hirooki Arai of Japan initially finished third. He was then disqualified for making contact with Dunfee, but Arai's medal was reinstated on a further appeal. Dunfee advised the Canadian team against making a further appeal.[11] Dunfee set a new Canadian record in the event.[12] He also competed in the 20-kilometre race walk, placing tenth.

After dealing with injuries, Dunfee took some time out from the sport in 2018, before beginning what he termed a restart with new goals. His work with KidSport to raise money for charity was part of an attempt to give him "a different avenue to chase [his] competitive spirit" and credited it with reinvigorating him heading into the 2019 season.[13] Competing at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Dunfee won the bronze medal, the second medal for a Canadian in racewalk at the World Championships, and the first in the 50 km. This was the last occasion the 50 km was to be contested at the World Championships, a decision Dunfee indidcated he disagreed with. He went on to say that his full focus was on preparing for the next Olympics.[14]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were delayed by a year. This was, as in Doha, to be the last time the 50 kilometres race walk was to be a featured event at the Olympics. In the closing metres of the race, Dunfee surged into third place and won the bronze medal, becoming the third ever Canadian racewalking Olympic medalist, and the only one in the 50 km event. He remarked afterward "I don't need a medal to validate myself. I'm proud of what I accomplished today, but I have been dreaming of this moment and winning this medal for 21 years. I am over the moon."[15]

Dunfee's accomplishment in Tokyo was recognized by AthletesCan with their True Sport Award in December 2021.[16]

Personal bests[]

Event Result Venue Date
Road walk
10 km 40:19 min Canada Moncton, New Brunswick June 22, 2013
20 km 1:20:13 hrs China Taicang May 4, 2014
50 km 3:41:38 hrs Brazil Rio de Janeiro August 19, 2016
Track walk
5000 m 18:39.08 min Canada Burnaby, British Columbia June 18, 2021
10,000 m 38:39.72 min Canada Burnaby, British Columbia June 12, 2021
20,000 m 1:25:15.0 hrs (ht) Canada Calgary, Alberta June 25, 2011

Competition record[]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Canada
2007 World Youth Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 23rd 10,000 m 47:40.86
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 10th 10,000 m 42:56.82
2009 Pan American Race Walking Cup (U20) San Salvador, El Salvador 4th 10 km 44:16
Pan American Junior Championships Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 6th 10,000 m 43:27.04
2010 World Race Walking Cup Chihuahua, México – 20 km DNF
Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 6th 20 km 1:28:13
2011 Universiade Shenzhen, China 14th 20 km 1:29:13
2012 Oceania Race Walking Championships Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 4th† 20 km 1:25:17
World Race Walking Cup Saransk, Russia – 20 km DNF
15th Team (20 km) 180 pts
NACAC U23 Championships Irapuato, México 1st 20,000 m 1:26:15.32 A
2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala 4th 20 km 1:25:43 A
Universiade Kazan, Russia 21st 20 km 1:31:07
3rd Team (20 km) 4:20:35
World Championships Moscow, Russia 36th 50 km 3:59:28
Jeux de la Francophonie Nice, France 2nd 20 km 1:25:30
2014 World Race Walking Cup Taicang, China 11th 20 km 1:20:13
4th Team (20 km) 36 pts
2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup Arica, Chile 4th 20 km 1:21:54
1st Team (20 km) 21 pts
World Championships Beijing, China 12th 20 km 1:21:48
12th 50 km 3:49:56
2016 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships Rome, Italy 16th 20 km 1:21:26
2nd Team (20 km) 28 pts
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10th 20 km 1:20:49
4th 50 km 3:41:38
2017 IAAF World Championships in Athletics London, England 15th 50 km 3:47:36
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 8th 20 km 1:23:26
NACAC Championships Toronto, Canada 1st 20 km 1:25:39
2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics Doha, Qatar 3rd 50 km 4:05:02
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd 50 km 3:50:59

†: Guest appearance out of competition.

References[]

  1. ^ Dunfee, Evan, My journey
  2. ^ Participants / DUNFEE Evan, Commonwealth Games Federation, retrieved May 18, 2015
  3. ^ "Home | Vancouver Sun". vancouversun. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "LinkedIn Profile".
  5. ^ "A walker's perspective: introducing Evan Dunfee". Canadian Running Magazine. November 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Another Russian race-walker under scrutiny". Associated Press. January 16, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015.
  7. ^ "IAAF opens investigation after Russia's Olympic champion racewalker reportedly competes during doping ban". www.insidethegames.biz. January 14, 2015.
  8. ^ "Team Kidsport". Archived from the original on April 24, 2015.
  9. ^ "Dunfee Walks - KidSport x Camp KM". Dunfee Walks.
  10. ^ Hossain, Asif (July 11, 2016). "Athletics Canada nominates largest squad to Team Canada for Rio". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  11. ^ "Drama at the 50K walk; Canadian Evan Dunfee loses bronze after Japanese protest". thestar.com. August 19, 2016.
  12. ^ "Evan DUNFEE | Profile | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org.
  13. ^ Thompson, Becky (October 5, 2019). "Race walker Evan Dunfee sets sights on Tokyo after bronze in Doha". Sports Gazette.
  14. ^ Dennehy, Cathal (October 17, 2019). "After digging deep in Doha, Dunfee sets sights on next big targets". World Athletics.
  15. ^ Smart, Zack (August 5, 2021). "Canada's Evan Dunfee storms back to capture bronze in 50km race walk". CBC News. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Bujold, Dunfee, Paquin, Heil, women's soccer team honoured at 44th Canadian Sport Awards". AthletesCan. AthletesCan.com. Retrieved December 25, 2021.

External links[]

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