© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated
Canada’s Evan Dunfee earned the gold medal one day one of the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships in the 35-kilometre race walk.
The 34-year-old finished the race in two hours, 28 minutes and 22 seconds, which was 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Caio Bonfim representing Brazil. Hayato Katsuki from Japan took bronze.
𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡! 🥇🔥
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) September 13, 2025
He wins Team Canada’s first medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships — and it’s GOLD! Evan takes the Men’s 35km Race Walk with an incredible time of 2:28:22.
📸: Yonathan Kellerman pic.twitter.com/q2gL92N9YG
Dunfee earned bronze in the 50km race walk at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. It was Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in the event. He later claimed gold in the 10km race walk at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Dunfee placed fifth in the 20km race walk, now the only distance contested at the Olympics.
Early in his career, he and other race walkers were fighting what they feared and suspected were doping Russian race walkers. Eventually, the country was banned from the sport for systematic doping. Later, the International Olympic Committee removed the 50km distance, which he felt was his specialty. Dunfee, at the time, wondered if he would be able to compete at the highest level.
He has morphed into a 20km to 35km competitor very well. In fact, he has fared better over the shorter distances.
