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 Olympic record in the 50 km walk.

Personal

Tallent was born on 17 October 1984 in Ballarat,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He is one of six children and his parents own a potato farm near Ballarat. Tallent attended Dean Primary School and Ballarat High School. He married race walker

Claire Woods 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 suburb of Kensington, graduating i ...

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 ...

in August 2008. They welcomed their first son, Harvey Sebastian Tallent, into the world on 25 May 2017.

Athletics career

Tallent finished third in the 20 km walk at the 2008 Olympic Games in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

to claim his first Olympic medal. He received a silver medal for finishing second in the 50 km walk a week later, becoming the first Australian to win two athletic medals in the same Olympics since 1972 and the first male Australian to do so in 102 years. In the 20 km walk and 50 km walk at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, he finished in sixth and seventh position respectively. Tallent returned to the medal dais in 2010 when claiming a bronze medal in the 50 km Walk at the 24th World Race Walking Cup held in Chihuahua, Mexico. Later on that year Tallent took home gold in the 20 km walk at the

2010 Delhi 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 ...

. He opened his 2011 season with a win at the Australian 20 km walk championships, while his wife Claire Tallent secured the women's title. At the 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 50 km walk. On 24 March 2016, original gold medalist

Sergey Bakulin Sergey Vasilyevich Bakulin (russian: Серге́й Васильевич Бакулин; born 13 November 1986 in Insar, Mordvin ASSR) is a male race walker from Russia. Biography He was originally the 2011 World Champion in the 50 kilometre ...

had his results disqualified for doping, advancing Tallent's medal to silver. Also advancing his medal was Denis Nizhegorodov, whose A sample also tested positive. Nizhegorodov was fortunate his B sample could not confirm doping and he retains the medal. At the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Tallent finished 7th in the 20 km walk. A week later he won the gold medal in the 50 km walk in a personal best time and Olympic Record of 3:36:53. Tallent was initially awarded the silver medal, but on 24 March 2016 the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified all results, in the period from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012, of doper Sergey Kirdyapkin, who had been the first walker across the line. Tallent received his gold medal for the 2012 Olympics on 17 June 2016 in a special ceremony. Tallent won the bronze medal in the Men's 50 km walk at the 2013 IAAF World Athletics Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It was his second world championships medal. In 2015, Tallent won his third World Championships medal with silver in the 50 km walk at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China. At the 2016

IAAF World Race Walking Cup The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. Women first entered the 1979 edition. ...

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, Tallent was initially awarded the silver medal behind

Alex Schwazer Alex Schwazer, OMRI (born 26 December 1984), is an Italian race walker. He was the 2008 Olympic 50k walk champion. He retired during the 2012 Olympics after being disqualified for doping offences. Biography Schwazer was born in Sterzing, Sou ...

, the 2008 Olympic gold medallist who had just returned from a four-year doping ban. However, in August 2016 the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified Schwazer from 1 January 2016, due to him yet again failing a drug test and Tallent was retrospectively awarded the gold medal. At the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, he won the silver medal in the Men's 50 km walk. As a result of winning four Olympic medals, he became Australia's most prolific Olympic male track and field medallist. Tallent withdrew from the 50 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 ...

due to a hamstring injury. Tallent announced his retirement in March 2021 after failing to overcome a hamstring injury before the 2021 Australian Olympic selection trials. He was coached by Brent Vallance at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra between 2004 and 2012.

Achievements

2013 IAAF World Championship in Moscow 50 km Men Walk Jared TALLENT 02

2016 Olympic gold medal presentation

Tallent originally finished second in the 50 km walk at the

. In March 2016,

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

stripped London gold medallist Sergey Kirdyapkin of all his results for the period of 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 for doping. Tallent was then awarded the gold medal. On 17 June 2016, 1460 days after his London 50 km race, Tallent was presented his gold medal on steps of the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

and this ceremony followed

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

protocol with

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

President John Coates presenting him the gold medal,

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 registered ...

President Mark Arbib presenting a bunch of flowers and the national anthem being played whilst the Australian flag was raised. Tallent made the following comments when interviewed during the ceremony:

2018 IAAF gold medal presentation

In May 2018 at an IAAF ceremony 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 delineat ...

, China, Tallent was awarded two gold medals from the 2012 and 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships 50-kilometre race walk, following the confirmed positive doping test of the 2016 first-placed race walker

(ITA) and a previously confirmed series of abnormalities in the Athlete Biological Passport profile of 2012 first-placed Sergey Kirdyapkin (RUS) and second-placed Igor Erokhin (RUS).

Recognition

*2009 and 2010 - Athletics Australia "Out of Stadium" athlete award *2012 - Australian Flame Athlete of The Year *2016 -

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

*2016 - Australian Flame Male Athlete of The Year

References

External links

* *
Jared Tallent
at Australian Athletics Historical Results
Jared Tallent
at Australian Olympic Committee Rio Games {{DEFAULTSORT:Tallent, Jared 1984 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Australian male racewalkers Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia People educated at Ballarat High School Sportspeople from Ballarat World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships winners Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)