Canada wins appeal, awarded bronze medal
Posted August 19, 2016 9:23 am.
Last Updated August 19, 2016 12:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (NEWS 1130) – Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee has been awarded the bronze medal in the 50km race walk at the Olympics after a Japanese athlete was disqualified. The 25-year-old from Richmond native originally finished fourth behind Japan’s Hirooki Arai.
But Athletics Canada protested the result because Arai bumped Dunfee as he was passing in the final two kilometres, causing the Canadian to break stride. Officials sided with the Canadians, disqualifying Arai and promoting Dunfee to the podium.
Dunfee, who was leading at the 45-kilometre mark, finished in three hours 41 minutes 38 seconds, breaking his own Canadian record of 3:43:45. Teammate Mathieu Bilodeau of Calgary didn’t finish.
After crossing the finish line, Dunfee was one of several walkers, who braved challenging conditions and fell to the ground and received treatment from medical personnel.
Slovakia’s Matej Toth won gold in 3:40:58 while Australia’s Jared Tallent was second in 3:41:16.
Dunfee won gold in the 20 kilometres at last summer’s Pan American Games.
