Taking strides to success | Australia’s Race Walkers finish training block in St Moritz

Against the picturesque landscapes of St Moritz and Lyon, Australia’s elite race walkers have completed a rigorous high-altitude training camp in preparation for the World Athletics Championships in less than a fortnight’s time.

Led by Australia’s most decorated track and field athlete and now High Performance Development Coach Jared Tallent, the group of six athletes have made significant inroads and are now geared for success when they look to compete over two gruelling distances of 20km and 35km.

“It’s been a really fantastic camp. We spent a good amount of time in St. Moritz at 1800-metres, doing between 120-160km a week depending on the athlete and now we are waiting for the final team selection,” Jared Tallent said.

“Everyone is happy with the training blocks they’ve had and they are all performing well at a hard level. What we’re doing this year is similar to what we’ll do next year in the lead-up to Paris, so athletes will hopefully leave the World Championships with a good boost of confidence and replicate it next year.”

Altitude training has long been a preferred method amongst endurance athletes looking to enhance their fitness ahead of competition.  At higher elevations, the air is thinner, leading to reduced oxygen levels and as a result, the body adapts by increasing the production of red blood cells, improving one’s oxygen-carrying capacity and boosting cardiovascular fitness.

“St Moritz is a regular place for us to come to and our race walkers have been coming here for over 20 years, so we know it very well. Some of the athletes are attending for the first time, but overall everyone has really enjoyed the experience,” Tallent said.

“We really rely on good cycle paths and footpaths and a place that isn’t too hilly either. We get over 300 days of sunshine in St. Moritz even though you’re so high up, there is barely any rain so it’s an ideal training location, and so many countries send their athletes here so the whole place is buzzing with walkers. It can be really inspiring.”

Chalking up almost 4000km collectively over four weeks and motivating each other as a group, the cream of Australia’s race walking crop are now poised to become some of Australia’s best performers on the world stage.

“Jemima Montag is back at home training with Brent Vallance,  but over here we have Declan Tingay who has become one of the fastest in the world this year and an Australian record holder over shorter distances. We also have Rhydian Cowley who has performed exceptionally well over 35km.

“The athletes over here including Kyle (Swan), Bec (Henderson) as well as some of our younger athletes in Olivia Sandery and Allanah Pitcher, they’re all performing at a really high level – we’re looking at Top 16s to Top 8s, and I think after this camp, we will be seeing every athlete perform at their maximum and to their full potential for the level we’re at.

“If they can, we could potentially have our best performances ever as a group at the World Athletics Championships. We’re hoping for a number of Top-8 performances and maybe a few sneaky medals.

“This group are the highest ranked overall that we’ve ever had so we’re very optimistic.”

Thanks to a partnership between Airbnb and the Australian Olympic Committee, Australia’s elite walkers have been able to stay in the heart of Lyon without compromising their routine and daily training environment ahead of the World Athletics Championships.

“There’s been a lot of kilometres done over here and we’re now at the stage where there are more days for recovery in between. The distance is definitely coming down and athletes are starting to freshen up,” Tallent said.

“There’s a lot of home cooking going on which makes athletes feel more at home. They can do the things they would do at home, remain as comfortable as possible and do the things they like to do, which furthers their training and performance,” Tallent said.

“Where we are, you can also find fantastic places to go out to as well. We’re a fairly small group, being six athletes and one coach, and having an apartment close to restaurants, training and we definitely feel at home.”

Australia’s elite race walkers training for Budapest will wrap up their St Moritz-Lyon training camp this weekend, and travel to Montpellier upon the announcement of the team on Monday.

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 4/8/2023