Jemima Montag (born 15 February 1998) is an Australian Olympic

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 ...

. She won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

, won

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

s in the

20 km 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 un ...

and the Marathon walk relay in the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, and is a two-time

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 ...

champion.

Early and private life

Montag was born in

East Melbourne, Victoria East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

, and is Jewish. Her parents are Ray (whose parents are

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

s) and Amanda Montag, who met at the

1989 Maccabiah Games The 13th Maccabiah Games brought 4,500 athletes to Israel from 45 nations. Jewish athletes from Hungary participated for the first time since World War II, Jewish athletes from Russia had been permitted, by their country, to play for the first tim ...

in Israel, where Ray was competing in cricket and Amanda was competing in the heptathlon for Australia. Montag's paternal grandmother, born Judyta Joachimsmann in the town of

Wieliczka Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

, Poland, was a survivor of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

, and the Auschwitz death march. Montag plans to write a book about her grandmother's experiences. Montag is studying for a postgraduate medical degree and a Master of Public Health at medical school at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where she previously earned a Bachelor of Science. She also works at a company that delivers food to underprivileged families.

Career

Montag is coached by former racewalker Brent “CV” Vallance. Prior to her walking career, she studied ballet at the national theatre ballet school in st kilda, Victoria. Under the training of Beverly Jane Fry. She began taking part in

Little Athletics Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory); 3 ...

when she was seven, encouraged by her mother, who was herself a

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. She was inspired by

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set while fin ...

, as well as her contemporaries Regan Lamble and

Steven Solomon Steven Solomon (born 16 May 1993) is an Australian Olympic sprinter. He is a six-time defending Australian 400 metres champion. In 2011, he broke the 30-year-old national junior record in the 400m. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at ...

. A Jewish Australian, at age 15 was recognised for her wins at the state and national championships with the Australian 2013 Outstanding Jewish Junior Sportswoman of the Year Award. She made her first impact with a win in the under-20 section at the 2014 Oceania Race Walking Championships. A global medal came later that May, as she placed twelfth in the

10 kilometres 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 ...

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 ...

and shared in the team bronze with Clara Smith and Elizabeth Hosking. She graduated high school from Wesley College in 2016. She was the Australian team’s flag bearer at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

in Israel, where she won a silver medal in the 10 km race walk.

2018–22; Commonwealth Games champion

Montag earned selection for Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games through a silver medal performance behind

Beki Smith Rebecca "Beki" Smith (née Lee, born 25 November 1986) is an Australian race walker. Lee finished fourth in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 Oceania & Australian Race Walking Championships and represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...

at the 2018 Australia and Oceania Race Walking Championships, setting a personal best of 1:31:26 hours in her second ever competitive outing over the 20 km distance. Montag was the gold medalist of 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 ...

at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, at 20 years of age. She had been leading alongside fellow Australian Claire Tallent, but was assured of the win when Tallent was disqualified in the final stage of the race. She came in sixth in the final of the Women's 20 km walk in the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in a time of 1:30.39, at 23 years of age. Montag won the gold medal at the

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

, repeating in the 20 kilometers race walk. In March 2022, she was inducted into the Maccabi Victoria Hall of Fame.

2023–present; World Championships silver medal

At the

in Budapest, Montag won the silver medal in the women's 20 km walk, 25 seconds behind the winner. in May 2023, she received the UniSport Australia award for the most outstanding performance by a student-athlete. In February 2024, at the Oceania and Australian championships, Montag won the women’s 20 km race in 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 9 seconds, breaking the Oceania and Australian record that she herself had set previously by 7 seconds. In April 2024 at the

Maccabi Australia Maccabi Australia is a Jewish Australian sporting organisation. It is part of Maccabi World Union. Maccabi teams compete in many sports such as association football, Australian rules football, basketball, table tennis and more. Maccabi Australi ...

Sport Awards she was awarded the President’s Award and the Victorian outstanding sportswoman award. In July 2024, she was ranked #3 in the world. In preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics, she declared to Australian-Jewish media outlet, The Jewish Independent, she wanted to be best in the world.

2024 Paris Olympics bronze medals

Montag represented

Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics Australia competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics at Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Australian athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. As Brisbane will ...

in Paris in the Women's 20 kilometres walk on 1 August and the Mixed marathon walk relay on 3 August 2024. She won the bronze medal in both events, and was the first Australian woman in 52 years to win two medals in track and field at the same Olympic Games.
alternate link

International competitions

References

External links

*
Jemima Montag
at

Australian Athletics 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 ...

archive

at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montag, Jemima 1998 births Living people Athletes from Melbourne Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Australian female race walkers Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Competitors at the 2019 Summer Universiade FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia FISU World University Games silver medalists for Australia Jewish Australian sportspeople Jewish track and field athletes Maccabiah Games competitors for Australia Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Maccabiah Games silver medalists Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) People from East Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) University of Melbourne alumni World Athletics Championships medalists 21st-century Australian sportswomen