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

Early life and education

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

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

suburb of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the 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 Kensington Garden ...

, graduating in 1998.

Career

Woods has represented Australia at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, 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 (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, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, behind England's

Johanna Jackson Johanna Atkinson (née Jackson) (born 17 January 1985) is a British race walker, and Commonwealth champion from New Marske in Redcar and Cleveland. Johanna's mother Maureen Jackson, a professional sporting coach, coached Johanna and supported ...

. 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, 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 Jared Tallent OAM (born 17 October 1984) is an Australian race walker and Olympic gold medallist in the 50 km walk from London in 2012. He is a four-time Olympic medallist, three-time World Championship medallist and holds the current Oly ...

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 Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, 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

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.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

*
Claire Tallent
at

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 register ...

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