Bird-Smith set to swoop in London

Dane Bird-Smith (Qld) was a relative unknown when he took to the start line for the men’s 20km race walk at Rio 2016.

Twelve months later, and with a bronze medal under his belt, the 25-year-old now relishes the exposure that the performance provided him, taking in his stride the positive banter he enjoys while training in his home town of Brisbane.

“It has been really cool. I’ve seen such a massive change, especially with the way people look at race walking,” Bird-Smith said.

“Before Rio, I’d be out training in Brisbane and people would honestly look at me quizzically thinking what even is that, but now I walk along Coronation Drive near the river and people are yelling out things like, ‘Go Birdman’ and that’s unbelievable. To me that has been the biggest thing.”

Determined to continue the medal-winning form that saw him share the Olympic podium with Chinese gold and silver medallists Zhen Wang and Zelin Cai, Bird-Smith is delighted by what he describes as a perfect preparation ahead of competition on Sunday 13 August.

“I haven’t raced this distance since February, but on that occasion, I walked an equal personal best, the same time that I did in Rio. Since then my training has been great, and that’s alongside attending university. I decided three days ago that I wanted to test myself in a 5000m time trial. The wind picked up, the rain started falling, but I still walked five seconds fastest than the Australian record. I am definitely in shape,” Bird-Smith said.

“I am absolutely here to win a medal. I am here for the business. It’s not going to be easy, the boys that I am walking against are strong athletes. There’s the European champion from Germany (Christopher Linke), a Brazilian athlete who was fourth at the Olympics (Caio Bonfim) and the Chinese are always strong. It’s going to be tough but I’ll be ready to take them on.

“I’m confident that in the last five kilometres I will be able to turn it on. I know I have the base, the good training, behind me.”

Bird-Smith will be joined on the picturesque surrounds of the Mall by Rhydian Cowley (Vic), while the women’s 20km walk will feature top-10 finisher from the Olympic Games, Regan Lamble (Vic), as well as mothers Beki Smith (NSW) and Claire Tallent (SA).

Cowley made his debut for Australia at the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, before going on to start at the Moscow 2013 IAAF World Championships. He lived out his Olympic dream at Rio 2016, clocking 1:23:10, less than a minute outside his personal best, to place 33rd.

Lamble placed ninth at last year’s Olympic Games to deliver the third best performance by a green and gold athlete in the women’s 20km walk.

Beki Smith returns to the IAAF World Championships after competing at Beijing 2015 and has a personal best of 1:29:49 from the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in 2016.

A new mother after giving birth to son Harvey only months ago, Claire Tallent won a silver medal at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and competes at the London 2017 after two previous starts at the IAAF World Championships in 2009 and 2011.

Claire Tallent is joined on entry lists by her husband, and the most successful male track and field Olympic of all-time, Jared Tallent (Vic).

The 32-year-old is one of Australia’s best ever athletes, boasting a trophy cabinet that includes four Olympic medals, including gold in 2012, and three medals from the IAAF World Championships, including silver two years ago at Beijing 2015.

He is one of seven Australian men that can call themselves Olympic champion and in 2017 becomes the most prolific ever green and gold starter at the IAAF World Championships, with seven appearances between 2005 and 2017.

Team Australia will arrive in the host city of London (GBR) today, before competition commences on Friday 4 August.

At the IAAF World Championships in Beijing two years ago, Team Australia won two silver medals by Jared Tallent (50km walk) and Fabrice Lapierre (long jump), with three athletes featuring in the top-eight. The year following at Rio 2016, Team Australia won two medals in race walking, with 28 athletes placing in the top-16 for their event.