Evan Dunfee sets Canadian record in 10,000-metre race walk

Race walker Evan Dunfee set a Canadian record at the Harry Jerome Track Classic on Saturday night in Burnaby, B.C., eclipsing a mark he set two years ago.

Dunfee of Richmond, B.C., completed the 10,000-metre race walk in a personal-best 38 minutes 39.72 seconds.

It was 14.48 seconds faster than the previous Canadian mark of 38:54.20 Dunfee set in July 2019. He also holds the national record in the 50-kilometre race walk.

The 30-year-old world bronze medallist will represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, topping the race-walk team.

The annual Harry Jerome Track Classic, which was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is named after late Canadian sprinter Harry Jerome.

WATCH | Bouquet of questions, with Evan Dunfee:

Bouquet of questions, with Evan Dunfee

4 years ago

Duration 3:27

Watch Canadian Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee answer a variety of questions, like what is the happiest moment of his career, and what his lucky charm is.

Bruchet shaves 10 seconds off PB

Also at the Harry Jerome meet, Vancouver's Luc Bruchet took 10 seconds off his PB, dipping under the 13:13.50 Olympic standard in the 5,000 with a 13:12.56 clocking. His previous mark was 13:22.66 from two weeks ago.

It's a dramatic improvement for the 30-year-old, whose best time in 2019 was 13:30.36. Bruchet, who ranked 72nd in the world in the 5,000 before Saturday's race, placed 37th in his 2016 Olympic debut at Rio.

Last November, Bruchet ran a 28:17.33 PB in the 10,000, falling 49.5 seconds shy of the automatic entry standard. The performance on a cool night at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby is the fastest 10,000 on Canadian soil since Jeff Schiebler ran 28:07.06 at the 2001 world championships at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

Reaching the 27:28.00 standard wouldn't have counted for Bruchet since World Athletics had suspended qualifying until Dec. 1, 2020 to give athletes equal chance to meet standards during the coronavirus pandemic across most events.

Away from the track, Bruchet is a three-time Canadian cross-country champion.

Elsewhere on Saturday:

• Three Canadian women ran under 2:01 in the 800 — led by national record holder Melissa Bishop-Nriagu in 1:59.60 — a meet record at the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor, Ont., where she lives.
• Madeleine Kelly and Lucia Stafford improved their standing in the world rankings, finishing 2-3 in 2:00.11 and 2:00.80, both PBs, and inched closer to the 1:59.50 standard ahead of the June 29 deadline for Olympic qualifying.
• Alicia Brown and Philip Osei set meet records in their respective 400 races, crossing in 52.49 and 46.31.
• Trinity Tutti set the U23 national record in discus throw with a 58.77-metre result to shatter the 41.71 meet mark from 2017.

WATCH | Evan Dunfee discusses unique challenges of race walking:

Evan Dunfee: The unique challenges of race walking and getting bumped out of medal in Rio

3 years ago

Duration 6:48

Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee talks to Andrew Chang about the unique challenges of his sport, the road to the Tokyo Games and the bump that cost him a medal in Rio.