PARIS — Olivia Lundman of Nanaimo will have a special cheerleader as she sets out from the base of the Eiffel Tower Wednesday morning, with veteran Evan Dunfee of Richmond, in the first-ever Olympic mixed-relay race walk.
“The Nanaimo Track and Field Club is what started it all and having Olivia here as well is a really special moment,” said Ethan Katzberg, also of the Harbour City, and who won Olympic gold in the men’s hammer throw this week at the Stade de France.
“I will definitely be cheering her on in the race walk. It’s really cool to be able to support Nanaimo and the track club.”
Right back at you, said Lundman.
“I’ve loved having my Island community supporting me, from growing up in Nanaimo, and being in the Nanaimo Track and Field Club,” she said.
“Having all the younger athletes in the club cheer me on and look up to me and support me is a really special feeling.”
Not to mention one not-so-little, six-foot-six, 236-pound member of the club.
“Ethan [Katzberg] and I grew up in the junior-development program in Nanaimo doing all the events we could and just running around at track and field meets having fun,” said Lundman.
“That fact we are both representing sa国际传媒 at the Olympics is amazing. Some people don’t even know where Nanaimo is.”
Lundman was an all-rounder: “Growing up, I loved trying it all. In school, I did cross-country, track, soccer, basketball, field hockey, and also club soccer for 13 years outside of school. It kept my love for sports alive because I haven’t got burned out doing just one thing. I’ve been able to be a well-rounded athlete and enjoy all the different sports.”
In the month before the Olympics, Lundman trained in Switzerland for altitude and in Barcelona to get accustomed to hot conditions in what is perhaps the most demanding and least-understood of sporting disciplines.
“A lot of people look at race-walking and think it must be so bad for your knees and your hips because it looks so awkward,” said Lundman. “But it’s actually really low impact, so we typically don’t get the same injuries as runners, and we can do lots of mileage without getting hurt.”
The pandemic wiped out Lundman’s sports career at Dover Bay Secondary but she rebounded well.
“I missed my Grade 11 and Grade 12 years for track and field because of the COVID restrictions,” she noted.
“It was really sad to have grad broken down into smaller ceremonies with social distancing. But I had recorded enough good clockings in Grade 10 to get a scholarship to UBC.”
The mixed-marathon race-walk distance is 42.19 kilometres and consists of one female and one male athlete, in sa国际传媒’s case here in the Olympics, it’s Lundman and Dunfee. The male athletes starts and goes 11.45 kilometres, followed by the female athlete walking 10 kilometres. The last two of the four legs has the male going 10 kilometres with the female finishing off the race with a last-lap 10.74 kilometres.
