JARED TALLENT reconfirmed why he is one of Australia’s best athletes earning a world championship silver medal in the men’s 50-kilometre walk in Beijing on Saturday.
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The Ballarat athlete won bronze in the same distance the past two IAAF World Championships meets and added to an impressive medal haul that includes three Olympic medals, two of which were for his pet 50km event. His first Olympic silver was won in the Beijing Bird’s Nest stadium in 2008.
Tallent declared he would, however, boycott next year’s World Race Walking Cup in Russia because of that nation’s widespread doping in the sport. The Cup is the biggest event in walking after the Olympics and world championships and the only major international hit-out left ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Rio. He has finished third three times in the 50km at Cup meets.
"In the lead-up to London I raced there [in Russia], finished third and ended up getting the gold medal two years later, why would I want to go to an event again where last time I was beaten by two Russian dopers,” Tallent said.
"...There has to be a big shake-up in Russia and I would like to see some sanctions on the federation. They are a disgrace. Their whole federation is a disgrace.
“I have decided not to go next year, there is no way I would support an event in Russia with the amount of doping problems they have had and it is really disappointing even with all these problems that they have pushed ahead and are having the event there next year."
Tallent was proud to have shared a podium in Beijing, which he said was a “clean race” for the first time in a long time for the 50km.
He entered the ‘Nest with a beaming smile, crossing the line in three hours, 41 minutes and 17 seconds. Slovakian Matej Toth produced a gutsy, dominant performance from the outset to capture gold in 3:40:32.
“It was brutal out there, but I am very happy with the result,” Tallent said. “Matej was always going to be very hard to beat, he walked 3:34 earlier in the year. I’ve trained with him, I know hard he works so when he went away early I didn’t want to chase too hard because, I guess, I didn’t want to blow up and fade...It’s not the gold that I wanted, but I’m proud of the result that I have.”
Victorian Chris Erickson crossed the finish 13th in a time of 3:51:26, his best result at a major international championships.
Meanwhile, Ballarat Olympian Kathryn Mitchell (61.04 metres) threw short of the women’s javelin final on Friday night. It was a tough night for the Australians with 2013 world silver medallist Kim Mickle and Kelsey-Lee Roberts all missing the final.
