Declan Tingay secures World Championship qualifier with Oceania & Australian title

Tokyo Olympian Declan Tingay has continued his stellar form in early 2022 winning the Oceania & Australian 20km Race Walking Championship.

Tingay was strategic in his approach, walking behind Kyle Swan for the first 15km of the race, before asserting his dominance to demolish his personal best by over three minutes.

Stopping the clock in 1:20:44 earned the 17th place finisher from Tokyo his maiden title in the 20km distance and giving him the World Championship qualifier.

“I didn’t really plan on walking that fast this morning, I had planned on qualifying for World Champs via the points system. To find a few extra gears today and knock the time out this early in the season is awesome,” Tingay said.

“It might mean I try to walk a bit quicker come World Championships and it might mean a trip to Europe sometime soon to see if I can lower that time again.”

Tingay has also secured the automatic selection spot for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships.