Exclusive: Evan Dunfee Hobbles to World Gold - “This Cannot Be How This Story Ends”

In excruciating pain from a torn left hamstring, Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee could think only of his community back home in Richmond, British Columbia. Drawing strength from their support, the 35-year-old pushed through agony to cross the finish line as world champion in the men’s 35 km race walk at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Dunfee had trailed Japanese race walker Hayato Katsuki for most of the 26 km mark before making his decisive move at 30 km. With Brazilian Caio Bonfim 33 seconds behind, Dunfee surged ahead to claim gold in 2:28:22.

“Then in the lead then I spent the next two kilometers thinking ‘holy crap I’m going to win this how did this happen how did we end up here’ I was pulling away from all the guys behind me and trying to convince myself to stay focused and get through for the next couple kilometers,” he told SportsBoom.com exclusively.

That focus was tested when disaster struck late in the race.

“Absolutely, 100 per cent change then with like two K to go I was kind of riding this high of ten minutes to go and then just get through these next ten minutes and then you’re a world champion and then my hamstring went pop and then I was left with these thoughts of can I finish what is happening this cannot be how this story ends for me today pushing through honestly agonizing pain, the worst pain I’ve had in my life and just managing to will myself through it.”

Dunfee described the mental battle that followed: “I just started off telling myself just take one step if I can take one step I can take ten steps maybe if I can take ten steps maybe I can take hundred steps and then I knew once I got to hundred steps I could push myself through that last little bit and make it to the finish line.”

Even entering the stadium, the win wasn’t guaranteed. “It was still really nerve racking coming into the stadium even 350 metres to go I wasn’t allowing myself that moment to celebrate quite yet just cuz I didn’t know if my body would hold up. It wasn’t until the last 50 metres of that race that I turned around and saw that Caio Bonfim wasn’t going to catch me,” he said.

“I knew that I could hobble to the finish line and that was the first time that I would allow myself to start celebrating and there was an overwhelming sense of joy that was coming in I could see my parents I could see my brother up in the stands just knowing that they were there to witness that and support me that was really cool. That overwhelming feeling came really late and it only came with seconds to go in the race but it was one of such pride and joy of accomplishment,” Dunfee added.

The Team Behind the Triumph

Reflecting on what made his win possible, Dunfee credited his close-knit team: “It’s that team, the thing that I’m most lucky about is how my team works so well together whether it’s Gerry, whether it’s my physio Marilou Lamy, whether it’s my strength coach Devon Goldstein, whoever it is they recognize they are part of the team and they work together. There is no one person who thinks they are the most important part they all understand the roles we play and how we can help each other so it is really really fun to be a part of team like that.”

He also praised his technique as a key to victory: “Race walking is really the breast stroke of running and so the technique takes quite a little bit of time to learn and it’s not the most natural of movement patterns but essentially it’s from the most basic basic basic parts it’s landing on your heel pushing off on your toe pumping your arms and moving your legs over 200 steps to the next.”

Despite suffering the same hamstring injury that had sidelined the world record holder, Dunfee said this was his first major setback: “This is the first major injury of my career I have been constant I never have really missed more than a week of training due to injury again up until this point so that consistency year after year after year after year and having to put in 5,000 6,000 kilometers every year and continue building that really helps sets me apart.”

He believes his experience in extreme conditions has also given him an edge: “Tokyo was super hot, Doha [Qatar] where I won my first world championships medal was super hot Tokyo where I won my Olympic medal is super hot so I took a lot of confidence from racing in torrid conditions I knew the super hot conditions and worse the conditions were the better I would do I would plan better I would race smarter than my competitors that’s how I was going to get a medal.”

Looking Ahead to Los Angeles 2028

Despite his injury, Dunfee remains motivated to improve: “I take a lot of pride in my technique I believe that I have one of the best techniques in the world and that’s a point of pride for me. It’s a lot of learning I’ve had to change my technique many times over.”

He also expressed frustration over the lack of funding for Canadian athletes: “The government likes to parade and compliment the athletes bringing them to the House of Commons after the [Paris] Olympics and they sung O’ Canada but shortly after they cut [Athletics Canada] by 25 per cent so how is this helping.”

Dunfee added that funding levels haven’t changed since 2018, making it difficult for athletes to compete internationally: “The gold medalist at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo believes it makes it difficult to compete and train for different competitions when the funding isn’t there and athletes are supposed to pay out of pocket. He added whereas the Australians are hosting in 2032 and they are investing heavily in their athletes.”

Still, the prize money from his Tokyo triumph will allow him to keep pursuing his goals. “I believe that as a race walker I have tremendous value and I do a lot in my community I’m very visible I think that I have a lot to add but a lot of these shoe companies don’t want to listen to me present that value or don’t believe in it so yeah winning that prize money is huge so that’s the missing piece so I’m lucky to have support from the government of Canada, Athletics Canada and on the podium and all that stuff. That basically covers my costs,” he said.

As for his long-term ambitions, Dunfee’s focus is firmly on Los Angeles 2028: “My biggest goal my biggest definer for my career is I want to leave it believing that I could have gotten it to my maximum potential and I don’t think that I’m there yet so when I look forward to LA in 28’ I feel like I still have growth and that I still have room to improve and you better believe that I hoping that it will translate into a gold medal.”

His recovery is expected to take six to eight weeks, without surgery. “I mean certainly a little bit of strength as evidence by this annoying habit of getting 33 K into a race and tearing my hamstring,” he joked. 

“For the most part 2025 has been my best training year I mean even though I’m training for a shorter distance now than I did in the past I was putting in more training miles, I didn’t have a single day since January.”

With resilience, perspective, and a deep belief in his craft, Dunfee remains determined: “Going forward he wants to work on that consistency and being in the right mindset for the next couple years in the lead up to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.”