Evan Dunfee (born September 28, 1990) is a Canadian

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, 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 asse ...

and Olympian. An Olympic and World medallist, Dunfee first set the Canadian record in the

50 kilometres race walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and t ...

(at 3:41:38) at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he placed fourth. He went on to win bronze medals at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held bet ...

and the 2020 Summer Olympics, both of those the last time the 50 km was to be featured as an event.

Career

He competed for his national team in the 50K walk at the 2013 World Championships, finishing in under 4 hours at 3:59:28. He won a bronze medal with his team at the

2013 World University Games The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

where two of the winning Russian race walkers,

Denis Strelkov Denis Sergeyevich Strelkov (russian: Денис Сергеевич Стрелков; born 26 October 1990) is a race walker. He won the bronze medal in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2014 European Championships in Athletics. He continues to be coa ...

and Andrey Ruzavin have since been suspended for doping violations. Dunfee is the 2012 champion and record holder for the 20 km walk at the

NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics The NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics is an under-23 athletics competition held between the member associations of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC). Rules and regulations were approved at an extrao ...

. He was the silver medalist at the

Athletics at the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie At the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie, the athletics events were held at Stade Charles-Ehrmann from September 10 to September 14.2009 Pan American Race Walking Cup The 2009 Pan American Race Walking Cup was held in San Salvador, El Salvador on 1–2 May. The track of the Cup runs in the Boulevard del Hipódromo, Zona Rosa. A detailed report was given by Javier Clavelo Robinson. Complete results were p ...

, the 2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup, 2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup and the 2012 Oceania Race Walking Championships and sixth at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

usually very close to teammate and training partner Gomez. Dunfee grew up and currently lives in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the a ...

, training up to 50 km a day. He attended Kingswood Elementary and Matthew McNair Secondary School in

. He graduated from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 2014 with a Bachelor's degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

. Dunfee ''Canadian Running Magazine''. His investigative work on illegal doping-related activities by Russian competitors has been quoted by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

and Inside the Games. Additionally, he is a KidSport ambassador. In 2018, in support of KidSport's 25th anniversary, he raised funds and walked 25km a day for 25 days. In July 2016, he was named to Canada's Olympic team for the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the 50-kilometre race walk,

Hirooki Arai is a male Japanese racewalker. He competed in the 50 kilometres walk event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China. He finished third in the 50-kilometre race walk event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but was subsequently d ...

of Japan initially finished third. He was then disqualified for making contact with Dunfee, but Arai's medal was reinstated on a further appeal. Dunfee advised the Canadian team against making a further appeal. Dunfee set a new Canadian record in the event. He also competed in the 20-kilometre race walk, placing tenth. After dealing with injuries, Dunfee took some time out from the sport in 2018, before beginning what he termed a restart with new goals. His work with KidSport to raise money for charity was part of an attempt to give him "a different avenue to chase iscompetitive spirit" and credited it with reinvigorating him heading into the 2019 season. Competing at the

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

, Dunfee won the bronze medal, the second medal for a Canadian in racewalk at the World Championships, and the first in the 50 km. This was the last occasion the 50 km was to be contested at the World Championships, a decision Dunfee indidcated he disagreed with. He went on to say that his full focus was on preparing for the next Olympics. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the 2020 Summer Olympics in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

were delayed by a year. This was, as in Doha, to be the last time the

was to be a featured event at the Olympics. In the closing metres of the race, Dunfee surged into third place and won the bronze medal, becoming the third ever Canadian racewalking Olympic medalist, and the only one in the 50 km event. He remarked afterward "I don't need a medal to validate myself. I'm proud of what I accomplished today, but I have been dreaming of this moment and winning this medal for 21 years. I am over the moon." Dunfee's accomplishment in Tokyo was recognized by the Canadian association of national team athletes with their True Sport Award for the athlete who "exemplifies the highest values of sport, including sportsmanship, perseverance and inclusion" in December of 2021. The transition to the 2022 season was difficult for Dunfee, who struggled with both a hamstring injury and depression relating to

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

' decision to retire the 50 km event in favour of the new 35 km. He said it had "been a mental struggle for me, finding the motivation and mostly related to just coming to terms with the 50K not existing anymore and that was so much of my identity." In his first major championship appearance in the new event, he finished seventh at the 2022 World Race Walking Team Championships in

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

. He was sixth at the 2022 World Championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, which he said he was "thrilled" by in light of his recent difficulties. Later in the summer, Dunfee was named to the Canadian team for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, competing in the newly-added

10,000 m walk The 10,000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it. 10,000 meters is 6.21 mi ...

. He won the gold medal in a new national and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

record time of 38:36.37. Dunfee is currently running for Richmond, British Columbia City Council in the

2022 British Columbia municipal elections The 2022 British Columbia municipal elections were held on 15 October 2022. Municipal elections took place in all municipalities and regional district electoral areas in the Canadian province of British Columbia to elect mayors, school board t ...

.Olympic medallist Evan Dunfee running for city council in Richmond
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Personal bests

Competition record

^†: Guest appearance out of competition.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunfee, Evan 1990 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for Canada Canadian male racewalkers Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Richmond, British Columbia Sportspeople from British Columbia University of British Columbia alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Universiade bronze medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Canadian sportsperson-politicians