Declan Tingay

BIOGRAPHY

Over the last two years, at three global meets, he has been Australia’s leading 20km walk race walker and capped that off with a silver medal in the 10,000m walk at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

As a junior athlete, Declan Tingay was one of Australia’s finest race walkers and now aged 24, he has established himself as Australia’s leading 20km race walker and second fastest ever.

After his Olympic debut in Tokyo where he placed 17th in a PB in the stifling Sapporo heat, he has compiled a brilliant 18 months of performances domestically and around the globe.

In 2022 he represented Australian on three occasions, 10th at the World Race Walking Teams Championships (& 4th in the teams event), 17th at the World Championships and a silver in the 10,000m walk at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
 
He has set PBs and records galore. Twice lowered the National 5000m walk record and once the 10,000m walk mark. At 20km walk, he started with a PB of 1:24.00 at the Olympics, then destroyed that time in early 2022 with 1:20.44 at the Oceania Championships. In the summer of 2023, he further reduced his PB to 1:20.20 at the Oceania Champs ahead of 94 seconds PB of 1:18.46 in Japan in March. The time elevated him to number two Australian all-time. But he was not done with PBs in 2023, going on to clock 1:18.30 for an amazing 8th at the world championships in Budapest.

After missing the 2024 Olympic selection trials in February with injury, Declan was back in form quickly clocking 1:20.00 for 20km walk in March in China, then just missing his own National 10,000m track walk record as he claimed the National title in April. Two weeks later in Turkey at the World Athletics Team Race Walking Championships he helped Australia qualify two teams in the mixed relay for the Paris Olympics.

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“I started Little Athletics when I was five, my parents encouraged me into the sport because both parents wanted to give me an opportunity to play sport, and the athletics club was the most local to us,” recalled Tingay about his start in athletics in Western Australia. “Around U14s, my coach and one of my friends, who were both walkers inspired me try the event semi-seriously. I got to the point where the walk was the only thing I was good at (I wasn’t a good enough runner for the 1500), so I stuck with it.”

After just missing the national under-18 5000m walk record by a second, he easily took the Australian under-20 10,000m walk record when placing an outstanding fourth at the 2018 World Junior U20 Championships in a time of 40:49.72. His fourth place was second only to Nathan Deakes, but superior to Olympians Dane Bird-Smith, Jared Tallent, Nick A’Hern and Luke Adams at that championship. Also, in 2018 he won bronze as a member of the national under-20 team at the World Race Walking Championships in China. After unfortunately being disqualified in his next international outing at the 2019 World University Games, in 2021 he smashed his PBs from 5000m to 20km walk, earning selection for his Olympic debut.

At the Tokyo Olympics Declan strode home in the second half of the 20km Walk, moving from 20th mid-way to 17th at the finish line to achieve a personal best time of 1:24.00 in the stifling Sapporo heat.
"I'm sore, tired and hot, but mostly sore. It wasn't the most fantastic performance, but I had a very fun time out there," Declan  said. "My goal was to finish among the top-30. I obviously didn't want to get disqualified either. I guess I've under promise and over delivered.”

Coaching: from dad Steve, in his earlier years, Declan is now coached in Melbourne by Brent Vallance…Education: Sports Science & Exercise and Health at the University of Western Australia until 2021. Currently at Australian Catholic Uni - Sports Science Honours under Louise Burke. Louise has produced a massive body of work on exercise nutrition and has worked with some of our best endurance athletes over the years…Employment: Running Warehouse Australia - this is also where all my shoes come from…Advice to your young self: Pursue mastery within the event (or sport), rather than chase results…Hobbies: tinker on and play with my small fleet of bikes (five now; one gravel, two road, one TT, and one single speed), sports photography…Home: lives and trains in Melbourne but raised in Perth.

@ 21 May 24 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au