TOKYO – UBC Thunderbirds Track & Field alumnus Evan Dunfee has lived his dream and can now call himself an Olympic medallist after taking bronze in the men's 50 kilometre race walk in Tokyo on Friday.
Staying with the chase pack the entire race, Dunfee headed toward the finish line in fourth place when his final kilometre kick went into high gear, passing Spaniard Marc Tur to finish in a season best time of three hours, 50 minutes, 59 seconds to make it onto the podium in spectacular fashion.
The bronze marks redemption of sorts for the Richmond, B.C. native who finished fourth at the Rio Games.
Dunfee not only made history for himself and Team Canada, but also for UBC as he clinched the first Track & Field medal by any Thunderbird athlete over the program's 92 year history at the Olympic Games.
Dunfee's bronze makes it four T-Bird medals at the Tokyo Games along with Kristen Kit's gold in the women's rowing eight, Kayla Sanchez' silver with the women's 4x100 metre freestyle relay, and Hillary Janssens' women's pair bronze.