Tingay Breaks Records with Impressive U20 Performance
WA race walker Declan Tingay has broken records on his way to an impressive fourth place effort in the men’s 10km walk at the U20 Athletics World Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Tingay smashed his own personal best and sensationally broke Olympic medallist Dane Bird-Smith’s Australian U20 record with a time of 40:49.72.
Not surprisingly, the 19 year-old Willetton resident was over the moon with his performance at the Championships.
“The perfect race, the race was perfect, I couldn’t ask for more,” Tingay said when reviewing his performance.
“I’ve been focussing a lot on my technique for the past five weeks and I think it all came together today.”
His teammate, Kyle Swan (VIC) was also in exceptional form to finish sixth in a new personal best, 41:24.12.
Coached by his father Steven, Tingay was close to Bird-Smith’s record when he won the Trials in a 61 second personal best.
He got a taste for international competition earlier in 2018 when he raced at the IAAF World Race Walking Teams Championships in China, in what was a prelude to his form in Tampere.
Despite a time penalty during that race, he still recorded a 10km road walk personal best of 42:01 to place 14th.
Tingay’s result highlighted the efforts of the four WA athletes selected on the Australian team at the U20 showpiece.
In other WA performances:
- 18 year-old Mount Pleasant resident Lara Illievski threw 45.34m for 21st position in the qualifying rounds of the women’s javelin.
- Lauren Hyde-Cooling cleared 3.65m for 27th position in the qualification of the women’s pole vault. Hyde-Cooling is also 18 and resides in Mount Pleasant.
- Adam Kopp and the Australian men’s 4x400m relay team qualified for the final, finishing in seventh place with a time of 3:09.31. Italy was crowned world champion.