Australia’s race walkers on show in Melbourne this Saturday

Melbourne’s Fawkner Park will host the Oceania and Australian 20km Race Walking Championships this Saturday, with competition stepping up a notch as athletes approach Tokyo with pace.

With much on the line ahead of Tokyo, athletes will be eyeing off all-important qualification opportunities and essential ranking points as Saturday becomes one of the most important dates on the Australian race-walking calendar this year.  

Rio Olympian Rhydian Cowley (Brent Vallance) will headline the men’s 20km, but he will be challenged by up-and-comers Declan Tingay (Steve Tingay) and Kyle Swan (Brent Vallance) with both of them already having both donned the green and gold in their short careers. 

Tingay is one who will relish the opportunity to race, having made significant progress over the course of the season that leaves him knocking on the door of the Olympic qualifying standard.

“I want to at least get the qualifier to prove to myself that I am capable of going to the Olympics and that I have the capacity to be competitive at that level,” he said.

“I have learnt to be patient and a lot more diligent of the training I am doing, giving things the time they deserve.”

The women’s 20km event features reigning national champion and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jemima Montag, who has gone from strength to strength over the 2020/21 season – with several performances that hold a significant bearing in the history of Australian race walking. 

Katie Hayward (Steve Langley) will be valiant in challenging Montag, with the two Olympic qualifiers to her name reflective of her class. Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) will be looking to cement herself as a genuine contender for national teams in 2021 and beyond, eager to capitalise on last year’s postponement of the World U20 Championships. 

Montag recently clocked an unofficial Australian all-comer record of 42:35.0 at the Supernova 5ish 10,000m Track Walk which suggests the young talent is in fine form.

AA’s Event Group Lead for walks, Brent Vallance, is confident in the strength of the domestic cohort to push the pace at this year’s championships, despite the absence of international athletes.

“Last year Jemima and Dane won the Championships and having previously walked the Olympic qualification standard, their title wins saw them automatically nominated to the AOC for selection,” Vallance said. 

“This year, however, the pressure is on, with only two more spots for our men and women, and no more automatic nominations available. Athletes will be vying for those ranking points and qualification times to prove they’re worthy of selection for Tokyo this July.” 

“Coming off two camps and solid competitions, we would expect that the qualification time of 1 hour, 21 minutes for our men, and 1 hour, 31 minutes for our female athletes is well within reach for many of our athletes.

“As the Commonwealth Gold medallist and an athlete who finished top 10 at the 2019 World Championships, Jemima is expected to perform again. 

“For our younger athletes like Declan, Kyle and Katie, we’re looking for them to transition into what we hope will be our Olympic team this year too. 

“We expect Declan can give that time a shake in Melbourne, we expect him to be very close to, if not under the qualification standard for the Olympics sometime this season.” 

Most of Australia’s elite race walkers have also recently completed two camps over the summer period; an altitude camp at Thredbo and another in Melbourne, providing significant motivation for athletes to continue their momentum. 

“The camps have probably indicated to all of them and each other who are the ones to beat,” Vallance said.  

“Bec Henderson is looking to do her first 20-kilometre race. She has been impressive on both camps we’ve had and did a big personal best for 10km recently. We need three races out of Bec to try and get close to an Olympic position, but that’s definitely not out of the question for her this summer either.”  

The program also includes the Oceania U20 10km Race Walking Championships, along with an Invitational U18 5km Race Walking Championships. 

TIMETABLE 
8:00 AM #1 Men 20k Race Walk RR Open Finals 
8:00 AM #2 Women 20k Race Walk RR Open Finals 
9:00 AM #3 Women 10k Race Walk RR Open Finals 
9:00 AM #4 Men 10k Race Walk RR Under 20 Finals 
9:00 AM #5 Women 10k Race Walk RR Under 20 Finals 
10:00 AM #6 Men 5k Race Walk RR Under 18 Finals 
10:00 AM #7 Women 5k Race Walk RR Under 18

By Lachlan Moorhouse
Posted: 26/3/2021