Dane Alex Bird-Smith (born 15 July 1992) is an Australian

racewalking 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 ...

athlete. He competes in the

20 kilometres race walk The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight ...

, and has a best of 1:19:28 hours for the distance, set in 2017. He competed at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where he was the bronze medallist. Bird-Smith represented Australia at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

three times (2013, 2015, and 2017), and has appeared four times at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships/Cup. He was the gold medallist at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in 2018, the

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

in 2015 and the Oceania Race Walking Championships in 2018 and 2014. He is the son of former Australian Olympic walker David Smith. He holds the Oceanian continental records for the 3000 metres walk and

5000 metres walk The 5000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race and was part of the athletics programme for men at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. It is also an event in the World Masters Athlet ...

. He is now playing AFL for the Wynnum Vikings.

Career

Early life and career

The son of David Smith, an international racewalker,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

-born Bird-Smith initially took up

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

but focused on the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. However he switched to racewalking as a teenager and began to be coached by his father.Gleeson, Michael (2013-08-12)
Bird-Smith walks out of father's shadow
''Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved on 2015-07-15. He attended

Indooroopilly State High School Indooroopilly State High School (ISHS), colloquially known as "Indro", is a state high school situated in the south-western suburb of Indooroopilly in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The school was founded in 1954, and offers the Internation ...

and

St Peters Lutheran College St Peters Lutheran College is a Lutheran co-educational private school in Queensland, Australia, with teaching campuses in Indooroopilly and Springfield, and an outdoor education centre in Crows Nest. The college provides Prep to Year 12 ed ...

. Bird-Smith had his first national success in 2008 when he won the Australian

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

title. Junior-level titles followed the next year and he also made his international debut, placing eight at the

2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics is the sixth edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held at Brixen-Bressanone Sport Arena in Bressanone, Italy from 8–12 July 2009. Athletes had to be aged 16 or ...

. He repeated as road and track national junior champion in 2010 and set an Australian junior record of 41:32.36 minutes for the 10,000 metres race walk while finishing fifth at the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

. He also made his debut 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.Oceanian record of 40:56 minutes in the 10 km road walk discipline to win the exhibition event at the Oceania Race Walking Championships.Dane Bird-Smith
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2015-07-15.

First senior competitions

Bird-Smith began to take part in senior competitions towards the end of 2011 and on his international circuit debut at the Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruña, ending the race in 13th place. His debut in the

event came in December and he recorded a time of 1:26:38 hours. He bettered this on the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge circuit, setting a time of 1:23:15 hours in

Taicang Taicang is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The city located in the south of the Yangtze River estuary opposite Nantong, being bordered by Shanghai proper to the south, while the river also delineates ...

. He ranked 43rd in the senior 20 km race at the

2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held in Saransk, Russia, on 12–13 May 2012.Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athle ...

, this time in the 5000 m walk – an event in which he also set a best of 18:56.96 minutes to rank third in the world that year. He set a personal best at the Oceanian Championships 20 km race, taking second behind his compatriot Jared Tallent and had his first top three finish on the circuit at the

Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni Coppa or COPPA may refer to: * ''Coppa'' or ''capocollo'', a type of Italian pork cold cut * Montonico bianco, a white Italian wine grape variety grown in the Calabria region of southern Italy * Coppa (surname) * Coppa Italia, a domestic Italian le ...

. A new best of 1:22:03 following at the La Coruña race, where he was fourth overall. This built up to his debut appearance for Australia the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

, at which he performed well with an eleventh-place finish, marking his entry into the top tiers of international competition, and also outdoing his father's highest placing at the event. He ended 2013 by defending his 20 km national title. In 2016 Dane won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio olympics. Bird-Smith made some quick improvements in the 20 km event in 2014. After winning his first Oceanian title in February, he walked 1:21:01 for third in

Nomi, Ishikawa is a city located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 50,132 in 18,585 households, and a population density of 600 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Nomi is located in southwestern I ...

, then achieved a lifetime best of 1:20:27 hours at the

2014 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2014 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships, IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held in Taicang, China, on 3–4 May 2014. The course was a 2 km loop along Shanghai Road between Banjing Road and Loujiang Road in the centre of the ci ...

, ranking 14th. With no other major championships to compete at, he took to the circuit and won the British Grand Prix of Race Walking as well as a third straight Australian 20 km title. He ranked in the global top-25 for the year. In 2015, Bird-Smith placed fifth at both the IAAF Race Walking Challenge Taicang and La Coruña race, setting a new best of 1:20:05 hours at the latter. This preceded his first ever global gold medal, which the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

student achieved at the 2015 Universiade, narrowly overturning the lead of Canada's Benjamin Thorne.Mulkeen, Jon (2015-07-09)
Simbine and Fajdek win World University Games titles in Gwangju
IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-15.

Personal bests

3000 metres race walk The 3000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race. It was a part of the athletics programme for women at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. In this event, athletes must always keep in ...

– 10:54.70 min (2017) *

5000 metres race walk The 5000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race and was part of the athletics programme for men at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. It is also an event in the World Masters Athlet ...

– 18:38.97 min (2016) * 10,000 metres race walk – 38:34.23 min (2017) *

10 kilometres race walk The 10 kilometres race walk, or 10-kilometer racewalk, is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it ...

– 39:30 min (2015) *

– 1:19:28 hrs (2017)

National titles

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athle ...

**5000 m walk: 2012 **10,000 m walk: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 * Australian Race Walking Championships **20 km walk: 2012, 2013, 2014

International competitions

References

External links

*
Dane Bird-Smith
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)
Dane Bird-Smith
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird-Smith, Dane 1992 births Living people Australian male race walkers Olympic male race walkers Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Australian Athletics Championships winners People educated at St Peters Lutheran College Sportsmen from Queensland University of Queensland alumni 21st-century Australian sportsmen