Claire Woods (born 6 July 1981), also known as Claire Tallent, is an Australian racewalker.
Claire Woods (born 6 July 1981), also known as Claire Tallent, is an Australian racewalker.
Claire Woods was born on 6 July 1981. [1]
She attended Mary MacKillop College in the Adelaide suburb of Kensington, graduating in 1998. [2]
Woods has represented Australia at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships in Athletics.[ citation needed ]
Woods made her international debut at the World Walking Cup in Naumburg, Germany in 2004 [3] in the 20 km walk.
At her first Olympics, she finished in 28th place in an equal personal best of 1:33:02. [3]
Woods was 19th at the 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuhua, Mexico and claimed silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, behind England's Johanna Jackson.[ citation needed ]
She began her 2011 season with a husband and wife double at the Australian 20 km walk championships, taking the women's title while her husband won on the men's side. [4]
In March 2012, Woods achieved a lifetime best of 1:28:53 in the 20 km walk. [5] She then achieved the 1st position in both the 5000m and 10 km events at the Oceania Championships.[ citation needed ]
At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Woods was in tenth place in the Women's 20 km walk at 12 km but was disqualified shortly after.[ citation needed ]
Woods retired from international competition in 2012 and coached her husband Jared Tallent to a medal at every major championship, culminating in a silver medal in the 50 km walk at the 2016 Rio Olympics. [6]
After a hiatus from competition, Woods came 43rd in the Women's 20 km walk at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, just eleven weeks after giving birth to her son. [7]
While leading the 20 km walk at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, she was disqualified approximately 2 km from the finishing line. [8]
Weeks after her disqualification, she finished third at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China in the women's 50 km walk in an Oceania and Australian record of 4:09:33. [9] [10]
In January 2019, Woods won the Women's 50 km walk at the USA National Championships in Santee, California in a time of 4:12:44. [11] [12] This performance, when combined with her Oceania record, saw Woods become the world's number one ranked 50 km walker for four weeks in 2019. [11]
In 2019 Woods was one of five female international race walkers that failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the Women's 50 km walk included in the Tokyo Olympics program. [13]
Weeks after the Beijing Olympics (in August 2008), Woods married international racewalker and Olympic gold medallist Jared Tallent in Walkerville, South Australia, [14] [15] and for some time, changed her name to Claire Tallent. They had two children, born in 2013 and 2017 by IVF. [16]
They were later divorced,[ citation needed ] and Woods reverted to her birth name. [11]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Australia | |||||
| 2007 | Universiade | Bangkok, Thailand | 14th | 20 km | 1:45:07 hrs |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 27th | 20 km | 1:33:02 hrs |
| 2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 27th | 20 km | 1:38:12 hrs |
| 2010 | Commonwealth Games | New Delhi, India | 2nd | 20 km | 1:36:55 hrs |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 21st | 20 km | 1:34:46 hrs |
| 2012 | Oceania Championships (Regional Division West) | Cairns, Australia | 1st | 5000 m | 21:57.48 min |
| 1st | 10 km | 44.19 min | |||
| Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | – | 20 km | DQ | |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 43rd | 20 km | 1:37:05 |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | – | 20 km | DQ |
Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by World Athletics. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. The first women's edition of the event happened in 1979. It was formerly known as the Lugano Cup after the city that hosted the first event, then became the IAAF World Race Walking Cup until 2016 and then IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships until 2018. In 2004, a junior division was added for athletes between 16 and 20. Since 2008 it has been a constituent meeting of the World Athletics Challenge – Race Walking.
The World Athletics Race Walking Tour is a racewalking series organised by World Athletics. Athletes accumulate points in specific race walk meetings during the season. Performances in 10 kilometres race walk, 20 kilometres race walk and 50 kilometres race walk count towards athlete's final scores. Since 2011, racewalking performances at the World Athletics Championships and Olympic Games count towards the series. Women have competed in the 50 km distance since 2018.
Marco De Luca is an Italian race walker. His best results at International level are 7th place at 2009 World Championships and 6th at 2006 European Championships and 2010 European Championships.
Olga Nikolayevna Kaniskina is a Russian coach and former race walker. She won the silver medal in the 20 km walk at the 2006 European Championships, the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships, and the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also won the 20 km walk at the 2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, setting a Championship record of 1:25:42. She was disqualified from several years of competition due to doping.
Jared Tallent is an Australian race walker and Olympic gold medallist in the 50 km walk from London in 2012. He is a four-time Olympic medallist, three-time World Championship medallist and holds the current Olympic record in the 50 km walk.
The men's 50 kilometres race walk at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held on 11 August on a route along The Mall and Constitution Hill. The event was marred by the disqualification of all three Russian athletes due to doping violations.
Rebecca "Beki" Smith is an Australian race walker. Lee finished fourth in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 Oceania & Australian Race Walking Championships and represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the same event. She came sixth in the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast.
Kellie Wapshott is an Australian race walker. She set her personal best time of 1:32:57, by finishing second in the women's 20 km at the 2008 Australian Race Walking Championships, coincidentally in her home city Melbourne.
Racewalking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres race walk, and a men's 50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
Evan Dunfee is a Canadian race walker and Olympian. An Olympic and World medallist, Dunfee first set the Canadian record in the 50 kilometres race walk at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he placed fourth. He went on to win bronze medals at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics, which was the last time both of those competitions held the 50 km as an event.
Dane Alex Bird-Smith is an Australian racewalking athlete. He competes in the 20 kilometres race walk, and has a best of 1:19:28 hours for the distance, set in 2017. He competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he was the bronze medallist. Bird-Smith represented Australia at the World Championships in Athletics three times, and has appeared four times at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships/Cup.
The 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships was the 27th edition of the global team racewalking competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held in Rome, Italy from 7 to 8 May 2016. It was the first edition of the tournament under its new name, having previously been known as the IAAF World Race Walking Cup since 1989.
Rhydian Cowley is an Australian race walker born in Glen Waverley, Victoria who specialises in the 50 kilometres race walk and 20 kilometres race walk. Cowley competed in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. For both of his major championship competitions, Cowley qualified in the 20 kilometres race walk. He has also competed at a Summer Universiade, five World Race Walking Cups, and a World Junior Championships. In 2021, he competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo where he finished in 8th in the men's 50 kilometres walk with a new personal best time of 3:52.01 just 113 seconds behind the eventual winner Dawid Tomala of Poland.
The men's 50 kilometres race walk at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held on a two kilometre course comprising lengths of The Mall between Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch on 13 August.
Jemima Montag is an Australian Olympic racewalker. She won the silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, won bronze medals in the 20 km walk and the Marathon walk relay in the Paris 2024 Olympics, and is a two-time Commonwealth Games champion.
Bethan Davies is a British racewalker who competes in the 20 kilometres walk event. She was the bronze medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and has represented her country at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships. She holds the indoor British record in the 3000 metres walk and the Commonwealth record for the indoor 5000 metres walk.
Klavdiya Yuryevna Afanasyeva is a Russian racewalker. She won gold medals in the European U20 and U23 championships in the 10,000 m race walk and 20 km race walk respectively. Though she has never tested positive for an anti-doping violation, in May 2018 she was suspended from international competition due to participating in a training camp including banned coach Viktor Chegin.
Katie Hayward is an Australian racewalker. She represented Australia at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar and also at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2020 Olympics, she came 37th in the women's 20 km walk final with a time of 1:38.11, just on 9 minutes behind the eventual winner Antonella Palmisano.
Declan Tingay is an Australian racewalking athlete. He won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres walk at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Tingay is the Oceanian record holder for the 5000 m and 10,000 m walk.
Jada attended Mary MacKillop College from 1996 to 2001, and in August 2013, was announced as the winner of The Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright's Award 2013
Australians at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics | |||
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Australian athletes at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics | |||
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