Racewalking Royalty Ready and Raring | Supernova 10,000m

From a world record holder and global medallists to the rising stars of racewalking, the Australian summer continues to attract the sport’s biggest names to the World Athletics Race Walking Tour – beginning with a showdown of Olympic proportions at this weekend’s Supernova 10,000m.

One of Australia’s six medallists from the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Jemima Montag (Brent Vallance) will open her 2024 Olympic campaign in esteemed company, with a host of the world’s premier women landing down under including Olympic gold medallist, four-time world champion and multiple time world record holder Liu Hong (PR China).

The Australian Institute of Sport will set the stage for the international affair that is the Women’s 10,000m Race Walk on Saturday featuring athletes from seven countries, including the likes of Olympic silver medallist Lorena Arenas (Colombia), World Championships bronze medallist Antigoni Ntrismpioti (Greece) and Commonwealth silver medallist Priyanka Goswami (India).

Olympian Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) and World Championships teammate Olivia Sandery (Jared Tallent) will join the march with Montag in a bid to ensure an Australian victory, with the hit-out set to serve as a prelude to the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide on February 11.

While the 10,000m Race Walk is not an Olympic event for Paris 2024, it is set to be contested this August at the World Under 20 Championships in Lima, Peru with rising star Isaac Beacroft (David Beacroft) poised to stamp his presence on the world stage.

Torching the 43:50.00 qualifying standard with a walk of 41:48.76 on debut over the distance, the 16-year-old has spent January rubbing shoulders with his senior counterparts at altitude in the Perisher Valley, now gearing up to challenge them over 25 laps on Sunday.

“It’s been a new experience for me. I do a few less kilometres than everyone else obviously, but for the track sessions I was feeling really good and going pretty quick, so that’s a good sign for the weekend,” Beacroft said.

“I’m a very competitive person, so it’s pretty easy for me to switch on race mode and really get in the zone to go fast on Sunday.”

Already carving his name into the Australian record books on numerous occasions, Beacroft conceded that Declan Tingay’s Under 20 national record of 40:49.72 is “on the back of his mind”, but remains focused on learning elite habits from the likes of two-time Olympian Rhydian Cowley (Brent Vallance).

“It’s so good to be a part of the racewalking community. It’s not the largest community out of all the disciplines in athletics, but it’s definitely tight-knit and I think that’s really good for the sport – the fact that we get along and help each other but can still find that competitiveness,” Beacroft said.

Olympic medallist Evan Dunfee (Canada) owns the fastest seed time in the field with his 38:36.37 placing him ahead of the Australian Olympic duo of Cowley in 39:14.6 and Kyle Swan (Jared Tallent) in 39:18.74, while the Lithuanian combination of Marius Ziukas (40:10.3) and Artur Mastianica (40:37.64) bring further Olympic credentials to the field.

The Women’s 10,000m Race Walk will begin at 8:30am AEDT on Saturday January 27, with the Men’s 10,000m Race Walk to follow at 8:20am AEDT on Sunday January 28. Full start lists can be found HERE.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 25/1/2024