Nathan Deakes (born 17 August 1977 in Geelong) is an Australian former race walker. Deakes trained with the Australian Institute of Sport. By performances, Deakes is Australia's best and most successful ever race walker, winning several international medals and holding many Australian and World Records. He was the 2006 Australian Male Athlete of the year, Australia's most prestigious sporting award across all sports. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and is a four-time

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 ...

gold medallist. He won gold in the 20 km walk and 50 km walk events at both the 2002 Manchester Games and the 2006 Melbourne Games, becoming the first man to win both the 20 km and 50 km walks at two consecutive Commonwealth Games. He also won bronze medals at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games and the 1996 World Junior Championships. He was also among the leading duo at the Athens Olympics in the 50 km walk, until being disqualified. He won the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka in the 50 km walk. To cap off a successful 2007, Deakes was crowned 2007 Telstra Male Athlete of the Year for the second time (the first being in 2004). He also broke the 50 km walk world record on 2 December 2006 at the Australian 50 km Road Walking Championships in Geelong, recording a time of 3:35.47. This bettered race walking great

Robert Korzeniowski Robert Marek Korzeniowski (born 30 July 1968) is a Polish former racewalker who won four gold medals at the Olympic Games and three gold medals at World Championships. Biography Korzeniowski was born in Lubaczów, and is the brother of fello ...

's previous world record of 3:36.03. He is also 4th all-time for the 20 km walk, 1:17.33, and 7th all-time for the 20,000m walk, 1:19.47. Deakes also won the last edition of the Goodwill Games in Brisbane 2001. He beat a strong field consisting of the current Olympic Champion,

, and the then current World Champion, Roman Rasskazov. On 21 July 2008 Deakes announced that he would withdraw from the 2008 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, with a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

tendon injury that required surgery to repair. His last competitive outing came 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 ...

, where he competed despite a year riddled with injury and finished 19th in the 50 km walk. He retired from the sport officially in February 2013, and became a Board Member soon after for

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 ...

In 2018 he was appointed as a member of the

Athletics Integrity Unit The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was founded by the International Association of Athletics Federations in April 2017 to combat doping in the sport of athletics. The unit functions fully independently from the IAAF. It is currently led by head B ...

Anti-Doping Panel. Deakes has completed university academic qualifications with a double degree in Banking & Finance and Law (Honours) from the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...

, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and a Masters in Law with a Sports Law specialisation from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

. He is published in the area of sports integrity. Inaugural inductee to

Sport Walk of Fame in 2022.

References

Nathan Deakes
at Australian Athletics Historical Results *

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deakes, Nathan 1977 births Living people Australian male racewalkers Sportspeople from Geelong Olympic athletes of Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships medalists Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia University of Canberra alumni Australian National University alumni Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games People from Redland City