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. Referee, Race judges careful ...

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 the ...

(at 3:41:38) at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, 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 betw ...

and the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, 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 where two of the winning Russian race walkers, Denis Strelkov and

Andrey Ruzavin Andrey Viktorovich Ruzavin (russian: Андрея Викторович Рузавин; born 28 March 1986) is a Russian racewalking athlete who competes over the 20 kilometres race walk distance. He has a personal best of 1:17:47 hours for the dis ...

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 The North American, Central American and Caribbean Athlet ...

. He was the silver medalist at the Athletics at the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie. He has several near misses finishing fourth at the

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 pub ...

, the

2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup The 2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup was held in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala. The track of the Cup runs in the Avenida Simeón Cañas, Zona 2. A detailed report was given by Fernando Ruiz Del Valle. Complete results were published. Med ...

2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup The 2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup took place on May 9–10, 2015. The races were held on a 2 km circuit on Avenida Raúl Pey, Playa Chinchorro, in Arica, Chile. A detailed report of the event was given for the IAAF. Complete results ...

and the 2012

Oceania Race Walking Championships The Oceania Race Walking Championships is an annual race walking competition not only for athletes representing countries from Oceania, organized by the Oceania Athletics Association (OAA). It was established in 2011 and has featured races for sen ...

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 ad ...

, training up to 50 km a day. He attended Kingswood Elementary and

Matthew McNair Secondary School Matthew McNair Secondary School is a public high school in Richmond, British Columbia and is part of School District 38 Richmond. Matthew McNair is one of the semester-style schools in Richmond. Its feeder schools include Hamilton Elementary, Wal ...

. 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. newspa ...

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 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 coun ...

, 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 identif ...

, the

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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 for ...

' 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 Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is s ...

. 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, Eu ...

, 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 West ...

, competing in the newly-added 10,000 m walk. 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, and, with the exce ...

record time of 38:36.37. Dunfee is currently running for

Richmond, British Columbia City Council The Richmond City Council is the governing body of the city of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The council consists of the mayor and eight elected city councillors. Like Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing bo ...

in the 2022 British Columbia municipal elections.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