The XXI Commonwealth Games 20km roadwalks were held on Sunday morning on a 1km course alongside the
Carrumbin beachfront in the southern Gold Coast area. Crowds numbering in the thousands lined the course, with vocal support for the various countries represented.
20km Walk Men, 7AM, Sunday 8 April
The men’s 20km was first up at 7AM, with the temperature already in the low twenties and quickly building, as the early morning sun made its presence felt.
The paced was on from the start, with a first lap of 4:08 followed by laps consistently around the 4 minute mark.
Favourites Dane Bird-Smith (AUS) and Tom Bosworth (ENG) led out, and by 5km (20:06), the leading group was down to 6, with Ben Thorne (CAN), Samuel Gathimbra (KEN), Simon Wachira (KEN) and Manish Singh (IND) the only other walkers left in contention. It was surprising to see that Legogang Shange (RSA) and Evan Dunfee (CAN) had already drooped off the pace.
By 8km (32:01), the lead pack was down to 4, with Bird-Smith, Bosworth, Gathimbra and Thorne all taking turns to push the pace. The 10km mark was passed in 39:55, with all 4 still in
By 15km (59:50), Thorne had dropped off and it was down to a final three to fight out the medals.
Fast forward to 18km and no real change, all three still looking in control and thinking of a win. It was in the 19th kilometre that the Kenyan finally started to drop back and it left to Bird-Smith and Bosworth to fight for gold. It was fitting that the first athletics gold medal would be fought out between Australia and England, the top two countries in the overall medal count.
It was not until the bottom turn in the last lap that Bird-Smith could break free, unleashing a withering final 200m burst to take gold with 1:19:34, 4secs clear of Bosworth with 1:19:38, a new PB and a new British record. The final lap was a withering 3:41, with most of the pace injected in the final sprint to the line. Bird-Smith was rewarded with a new Commonwealth Games record, beating Nathan Deakes’ 2006 winning time of 1:19:55.
It was perhaps fitting that Nathan was handing out the medals at the subsequent medals presentation.
Third place went to Gathimbra with 1:19:51, nearly a minute clear of Thorne, who finished fourth with 1:20:49. As expected, Quentin Rew (NZL) walked a well judged race to finish 5th with 1:21:47, ahead of Singh of India with 1:22:20.
Although a number of walkers finished with 2 reds, there were no disqualifications, and all 15 contestants finished the race.
20km Walk Women, 9:15AM, Sunday 8 April
The women’s 20km, which started at 9:15AM, was a much more torrid affair, with the emperature already 27C by then and rising. On a course with little or no shade and with the sun now out and at full strength, it was little surprise to see a very slow first lap of around 5 minutes. But the jockeying for positions stopped there, with Jemima Montag (AUS) and Alana Barber (NZL) taking the initiative and reeling off laps of 4:37, 4:36, 4:30 and 4:32.
By the time the 5km mark was reached in 23:15, the lead pack was down to 7.
Within one further lap, the lead group was down to 4, with Beki Lee (AUS) and Claire Tallent (AUS) the only ones able to stay with Montag and Barber.
Montag broke away to a small lead around the 8km mark, and the injection of pace was enough to drop Lee from the group. It was now down to three, with the remaining two Australians and the New Zealander all looking strong.
By the 10km mark, reached in 46:00, Barber had dropped off and was 8 secs in arrears, with Lee some 20 secs further back. Tallent was on two reds so was in dangerous territory, but she did not bat an eyelid, continuing to force the pace alongside Montag.
By 12km, Jemima had attempted another break and had opened a gap of around 20km to Tallent. The lead extended and Montag looked set for gold. Alas, her pace started to slow soon after the 15km mark and Tallent slowly bridged the gap.
They passed the 17km mark alongside each other and the race looked set for an exciting finish.
In the next km, it was Tallent who took the initiative and took the front position. But disaster struck as she passed the 18km mark, with the chief judge showing her the red paddle, confirming that she has picked up her third red in that frantic chase. She had given her all in the quest for gold, only to have it snatched from her in the final stages.
This left Montag well in front and she enjoyed the moment, smiling and waving as she worked her way to the finish to win with 1:32:50, only 4 secs outside Jane Saville’s 2006 Commonwealth Games record. She would surely have taken the record if she had wanted it but it seemed that the gold was sufficient for the 20 year old Melbourne walker.
Barber had walked on her own for the second half of the race but no one was ever going to catch her as she crossed the line in second place with 1:34:18. Bethan Davies (WAL) came through to take the bronze with 1:36:08, ahead of Khushbir Kaur (IND) with 1:39:21 and Emma Bridge (ENG) with 1:39:31. Beki Smith eventually finished in 6th with 1:41:41, obviously disappointed but still waving to the crowd and smiling. Great sportsmanship!
Soumy Baby (IND) was also disqualified, meaning that 11 of the 13 starters were able to finish.
The big crowd was treated to two exciting races, confirming that the racewalks do indeed have their place in these top competitions. The walk remains the one athletics discipline that can be freely watched from start to finish. Let’s hope that these wonderful races pave the way for racewalking to be upgraded from optional to compulsory.
Tim Erickson
Australia