Claire Woods (born 6 July 1981), also known as Claire Tallent, is an Australian

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

Early life and education

Claire Woods was born on 6 July 1981. She attended Mary MacKillop College in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, graduating in 1998.

Career

Woods has represented Australia at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Commonwealth Games and World Championships in Athletics. Woods made her international debut at the World Walking Cup in Naumburg, Germany in 2004 in the 20 km walk. At her first Olympics, she finished in 28th place in an equal personal best of 1:33:02. Woods was 19th at the

2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held on 15 and 16 May 2010 in the streets of Chihuahua, Mexico.2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, behind England's

Johanna Jackson Johanna Atkinson (née Jackson) (born 17 January 1985) is a British race walking, race walker, and Commonwealth champion from New Marske in Redcar and Cleveland. Biography Jackson was coached by her mother Maureen Jackson, a professional sp ...

. She began her 2011 season with a husband and wife double at the Australian 20 km walk championships, taking the women's title while her husband won on the men's side. In March 2012, Woods achieved a lifetime best of 1:28:53 in the 20 km walk. She then achieved the 1st position in both the 5000m and 10 km events at the Oceania Championships. At the

2012 Olympic Games in London The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Woods was in tenth place in the Women's 20 km walk at 12 km but was disqualified shortly after. Woods retired from international competition in 2012 and coached her husband Jared Tallent to a medal at every major championship, culminating in a silver medal in the 50 km walk at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After a hiatus from competition, Woods came 43rd in the Women's 20 km walk at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

, just eleven weeks after giving birth to her son. While leading the 20 km walk at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, she was disqualified approximately 2 km from the finishing line. Weeks after her disqualification, she finished third at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China in the women's 50 km walk in an Oceania and Australian record of 4:09:33. In January 2019, Woods won the Women's 50 km walk at the USA National Championships in Santee, California in a time of 4:12:44. This performance, when combined with her Oceania record, saw Woods become the world's number one ranked 50 km walker for four weeks in 2019. In 2019 Woods was one of five female international race walkers that failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the Women's 50 km walk included in the Tokyo Olympics program.

Personal life

Weeks after the Beijing Olympics (in August 2008), Woods married international racewalker and Olympic gold medallist Jared Tallent in

Walkerville, South Australia Walkerville is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies just north east of the city centre, about from the Adelaide GPO. Walkerville is one of South Australia's most affluent suburbs and in 2012 it was South Australia's second "top earnin ...

, and for some time, changed her name to Claire Tallent. They had two children, born in 2013 and 2017 by

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from t ...

.Australian racewalking couple Jared and Claire Tallent welcome the pitter patter of little feet with their first child
''The Advertiser'', 29 May 2017. They were later divorced, and Woods reverted to her birth name.

Achievements

References

External links

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Claire Tallent
at

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

(archived)
Claire Woods (Tallent)
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * * * (2010) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Claire Living people 1981 births Australian female race walkers Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Australian Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade Sportswomen from South Australia Athletes from Adelaide 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics