The new champions of Australia and Oceania in 20km are Dane Bird-Smith and Regan Lamble.
20km men
He had no difficulty the bronze medal of Rio to win this 20km with the time of 1:19:37 (equal personal best).
They were 24 athletes at the start, and for many it was the most important race after the seven weeks spent in Australia between Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Second place went to Lebogang Shange (RSA) in 1:21:00
Third place went to Quentin Rew (NZL) in 1:21:12
20km women
Victory to Regan Lamble (AUS) breaking - as in Rome in 2016 - the wall of 1:30.00 and winning the title in 1:29:58.
Second place to Brigita Virbalyte-Dimsiene (LTU) in 1:30:55 close to personal best of 1:30.15 (established in Alytus, LTU on June 17, 2011).
Third place to Beki Smith (AUS) in 1:31.23.
More results
10km U20 women
Victory for Clara Smith (AUS) in 47:48
Second place to Philippa Huse (AUS) in 49:46
Third place to Chelsea Goodhew at 54:06
10km U20 men
Victory for Declan Tingay (AUS) in 42:35
Second place to Kyle Swan (AUS) in 43:56
Third place to Luke McCutcheon (AUS) in 44:36
5km U18 girls
Victory for Rihannon Lovegrove (AUS) in 25:41
Second place to Samantha Brown (AUS) 26:04
Third place to Bethany Cross (AUS) in 27:31
5km U18 boys
Victory for Tristan Camilleri (AUS) in 23:05
Second place to Mathew Bruniges at 28:38
Below full report as usual prepared by Tim Erickson (AUS)
With the Australian/Oceania Roadwalk championships following on so soon after the recently completed Supernova Study at the AIS in Canberra, anticipation was high. Apart from the strong Australian contingent of walkers, the 20km fields boasted 18 overseas walkers (14 men and 4 women) from across the world – from Chile, Canada, Poland, USA, Lithuania, Japan, South Africa, Great Britain, Spain and New Zealand.
The 7AM start time had been chosen to mitigate against the usually hot summer conditions in Adelaide but it was not needed on this occasion. It was cool and overcast with an expected top temperature of an unseasonally cool 21C.
The 2km lap in the North Adelaide Parklands was wide and relatively flat, apart from a small downhill at one end. But performances indicate that the walkers coped well with the rise and fall in the course and there were many PBs on the day. Overall, 49 walkers competed, the best numbers seen for some years. The two 20km championships started at 7AM, with the U20 10km and U18 5km walkers starting at 8AM.
20km Men – Australian and Oceania Championships
Immediately from the gun, Evan Dunfee (CAN) and Dane Bird-Smith (AUS) strode to the front, with a large group on their heels. The pace was relatively sedate for the first two laps, with 4km passed in 16:22. By that stage, the lead group was down to 9, with Edward and Yerko Araya (CHI), Artur Brzozowski and Jakub Jelonek (POL), Quentin Rew (NZ) and Lebogang Shange and Wayne Snyman (SA) the only ones still shadowing the leading two.
At 7km, Bird-Smith and Dunfee increased the pace, creating a vital break on the others, and by the 8km mark, it was Bird-Smith on his own in front (32:38), with Dunfee 4 seconds in arrears. By 10km, Bird-Smith (40:39) had increased his lead to around 10 seconds, and from then on, it was just a case of how big the winning margin would be.
While Bird-Smith stormed home to win with an equal PB of 1:19:37, the battle for the minor medals was not decided until the dying laps. Although Dunfee looked set for second, he slowed from around 16km onwards, being caught first by Shange (1:21:00) and then by Rew (1:21:12) who stormed home to break his own New Zealand national record and finally by Brzozowski (1:21:16). Dunfee had to be content with fifth place with 1:21:22.
With a second half split of 38:58, Bird-Smith showed his class and speed and I suspect that all it will take is a race with a faster first half and he will improve considerably on his current PB.
Rhydian Cowley was the next best of the Australians in 9th place (1:22:09), just 2 seconds outside his PB and with a time that should guarantee him a spot in this year's World Championships in London. Further back in 12th place, Brendon Reading bettered his 2011 PB with 1:24:37 and will now have to decide whether to chase a London qualifier in the 20km or the 50km. The youngest walkers in the field also performed well, with 18 year old Tyler Jones (1:27:12) and 19 year old Adam Garganis (1:27:27 both recording big PBs.
With tenth place recording 1:22:15, it was a high quality race.
20km Women – Australian and Oceania Championships
The women’s 20km saw 5 walkers quickly clear out – Regan Lamble (AUS), Beki Smith (AUS), Alana Barber (NZL), Bethan Davies (GBR) and Brigita Virbalyte-Dimšiene (LTU) - and it was obvious that the medals would come from this select group of internationals.
By 6km (26:53), Lamble had broken away and already had a 30 second lead, so the winner looked settled, barring disaster. And no disasters were forthcoming, with Lamble passing the 10km mark in 44:33 and eventually crossing the finish line in 1:29:57, her best time here in Australia.
The chasing women never gave up but it was Virbalyte-Dimsiene who eventually cleared out to take second in 1:30:55, ahead of Smith (1:31:23) and Barber (1:32:23) who broke her New Zealand national record for fourth place. The big improvers had to be Australians Jessica Pickles (a 3 min PB of 1:37:56) and Simone McInnes (a 7 min PB of 1:40:26).
Full official results (included slit times) in the section Results or download directrly from this link: click here
Photo album of 20km Australian and Oceania Championships: click here
All photos of 20km Australian and Oceania Championships in a photo gallery of Terry Swan (AUS): click here
Leading group in female race and men start