Canada's Evan Dunfee won gold while race-walking with a brutal injury
Canadian race-walker Evan Dunfee put forth quite the effort while winning gold at the World Athletics Championships last week.
Competing in Tokyo, Japan, Dunfee took home gold for Canada on the first day of the event, finishing his 35-kilometre race with a time of 2:28:22. The 34-year-old was quite emotional afterward when thanking all of his supporters for rooting him on, whether at the event or watching from home.
What was already a great effort now seems all the more impressive, as Dunfee confirmed on Tuesday that he was dealing with a torn hamstring for the final two kilometres of the 35-kilometre race.
“I put so much into this season and to not get to complete it sucks,” Dunfee posted to social media. “But to put to rest the thoughts I always have that I’m a wimp, or that I can’t push through pain like others; that I pushed through 10 min of racing on a broken hamstring to make a childhood dream come true is a consolation I am more than willing to live with.”
The three-time Olympian also revealed that the injury will keep him from competing in the 20-kilometre race walk this coming Saturday.
“I’m disappointed that I have to scratch from the 20 km,” Dunfee said. “We briefly held out hope of recovery, but an MRI has confirmed the crippling pain I’m in is a fairly bad tear.
“I’m in the best shape of my life. I was focusing my training and preparations on the 20 km, and I wanted to prove myself so badly over the shorter distance after fourth and fifth place finishes at the last two Global Championships.”
Despite the disappointing results from the MRI, it may not have come as a complete shock for Dunfee, who didn’t hide the fact that he was in immense pain following his win last weekend.
“The hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Dunfee told media following the win. “That last two kilometres was agonizing, and I was just having to channel all of the people back home, people here who are part of my support team, who believe in me so, so much, channelling them to get through one more step, one more step.
“That last two kilometres, I’ve never been in that much pain in my life.”