PARIS -- Moments after Evan Dunfee finished the second gruelling 10-kilometre leg of the Olympic race walk mixed marathon event, he was back on the sidelines, coaching Olivia Lundman.
"Make yourself proud!" he yelled to the 21-year-old as she entered her final lap.
Dunfee, 33, is used to competing for international podiums on his own. But on Wednesday in Paris, the three-time Olympian took on a dual role as both competitor and coach as he teamed up with his student in the Olympic debut of the marathon race walk mixed relay.
The B.C. athletes finished in 20th place in a time of 3 hours, 4 minutes and 57 seconds, more than 14 minutes behind gold-medal winner Spain. The team from Ecuador took the silver medal and Australia the bronze.
However, the Canadians found plenty to celebrate in a race that was a valuable learning experience for Lundman, who is in her first Olympics.
Dunfee appeared bursting with pride for his student after watching the way she fought toward the finish in personal best time.
"It was so cool to watch that, to see all the work we've put in to get here," he said. "By far Olivia is the least experienced athlete on that race course, and she showed today how much she deserved to be there."
Lundman, for her part, said she was feeling "really proud" of herself and Dunfee.
"Going into the race we said we were going to go out there, give it our all," she said. "We knew we weren't in contention for a medal but top 20 was our goal we went out there and fought really hard and both of us gave it everything we had."
Dunfee, racing the opening leg, sped to the front early and pulled ahead of the pack, leading at one point by some seven seconds. He finished the first leg in 7th, about nine seconds off the lead.
The Canadians slipped down the standings to 18th during the first Olympic effort by Lundman, who was later forced to take a three-minute penalty in her second leg for breaking stride too many times.
The racers wound their way around a course that passed under the Eiffel Tower, where some fans from back home cheered on Dunfee and Lundman by hanging big Canadian flags over the barricades.
It was a new experience for Lundman to run in front of a large crowd, some of whom didn't know who she was at the start of the race but by the end were cheering her name.
As she entered her last lap, she passed by the winning Spanish team, who were already brandishing their flag on a slow victory tour. While some athletes might have found it demoralizing, Lundman said she was inspired.
"Seeing the top three finish and celebrate, it makes you think, 'I could do it too,"' she said.
Dunfee, 33, is a bronze medallist from Tokyo in the men's 50-kilometre event, which is no longer on the Olympic program. The mixed relay replaces that event, and involves a male and female athlete walking a full marathon distance in alternating legs, with each athlete completing two approximately 10-kilometre stretches.
While he's still competing, Dunfee said he's also enjoying helping to build the next generation of Canadian race walkers as a coach at the University of British Columbia. While it's exciting to mentor a promising athlete like Lundman, he says he also enjoys helping those with lesser aspirations.
"Having athletes that have goals and helping them get to those goals has been tremendous fun," he said.
Dunfee said he remembers watching from the sidelines of the 2012 London Olympics as teammate Inaki Gomez broke the Canadian record in the men's 20-kilometre event. He said it was the spark he needed to push for the next Olympics, and hopes Paris will do the same for his student as she sets her sights on London 2028.
"A great race here, a Canadian record, a couple of (personal bests) along the way is all bonus," he said. "The real thing is the fire that's lit within."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2024.
