<04.08.06> - Deakes heads entry list for Telstra Australian Walks Champ's in Hobart on 27 August

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06 Aug 2006

DEAKES HEADS NATIONAL WALKS ENTRY LISTS FOR HOBART

Four time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nathan Deakes will take on a new
challenge when he races over 30km for the first time in his career at the Telstra
Australian 30km championship to be held in Hobart on Sunday 27 August.

Deakes heads the impressive entry list of Australia’s world class men’s road walking
team who have confirmed they will contest the titles. He will be joined by the athletes
who completed an Aussie trifecta with him over 20km at the Melbourne Games -
silver winning Luke Adams and bronze medallist, Jared Tallent.

The three went on a month later to be Australia’s scoring finishers in the World
Walking Cup in Spain, where Australia collected the silver medal, finishing a gallant
second, just four points behind the home team.

And the man who took bronze behind Deakes in the 50km walk in Melbourne, Chris
Erickson, will add even more quality to the field.

Normally Australia’s top walkers would not compete in the Australian Winter
Championships as they traditionally clash with the major world championship or
games. The scheduling in 2006 provides an almost unique opportunity for our top
men to compete.

It also provides the chance for Deakes to become Australia’s all time number one over
the three standard road walk distances. Deakes already holds the 20km and 50km
records, however the 30km best belongs to Dave Smith, with a time of 2:05.59 set in
Canberra in 1986.

“I’ve never raced a 30km event, I have a time on the all-time list of 2:11.10, but that
was a split during a 20 mile event in Canberra back in 1998,” Deakes said from
Canberra where he is currently studying for a law degree at the University of
Canberra.

Whilst it was previously the standard distance at the Commonwealth Games, the
30km is now less commonly contested, leaving Deakes’ “split time” as the highest
ranked amongst the current crop, at eighth over on the Australian all-time list.
“With the 30km no longer on the international program, we don’t get the chance to
walk it that often so the Australian record is a target. When you break it down it’s
three times 42 minutes for 10km, so it’s possible. If the conditions are right then I’ll
definitely give it a decent crack.”

Tallent is currently ninth and Erickson thirteenth on the all-time list, whilst Adams is
yet to set a personal mark over 30km. All four men would be expected to take the
opportunity to re-write the all-time list in Hobart.

The Telstra Australian Road Walking Championships and Junior Road Walking
Championships will be held on Sunday 27 August 2006 at the Derwent Entertainment
Centre in Hobart. The day before the School Sport Australia and Telstra Australian
Cross Country Championships will be held at Pontville Equestrian Park and Sporting
Complex in Brighton, on the outskirts of Hobart. Both meets are supported by Events
Tasmania.

Athletics Tasmania today announced the selection of the Tasmanian Team to compete
in the Championships.

The team comprises:
WOMEN
Open: Celia Butler (OVA), Elizabeth Leitch (TMA)
Under 20: Lynette Bannister (ES)
Under 18: Lizzie Malcomson (ES)
Under 16: Alycia Wiggins (OVA)
Under 14: Stephanie Holloway (OVA), Georgia Parry (OVA), Teletha Phillips (OVA)
MEN
Under 18: Daniel Coleman (OVA)
Under 16: Bobby Malcomson (ES), Chase Richardson (OVA)
Under 14: Brodie Nankervis (WS), Brodie Stokell (New), Shannon Weedon (NL)

Hobart – 4 August 2006
For further information or to arrange athlete interviews, please contact:
Brian Roe, President Athletics Tasmania - 0438 604 571
David Culbert
Athletics Australia Media - 0417 272 641 or david@jumpmedia.com.au