Canada’s Evan Dunfee wins world championship gold in 35K race walk

Evan Dunfee, world champion–that has a nice ring to it. On Saturday morning in Tokyo, the Canadian race-walk record holder took home the first gold medal of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, winning the 35K race walk in 2:28:22.

“It’s a dream come true–25 years in the making,” Dunfee told Canadian Running post-race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Brazil’s Caio Bonfim took silver in 2:28:55, while Japan’s Hayato Katsuki claimed bronze in 2:29:16.

The event marks Dunfee’s seventh world championship–but his first world title. And with 25 C temperatures and 94 per cent humidity, the conditions weren’t on his side. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” the 34-year-old admitted. “The last two kilometres were agonizing–I’ve never been in that much pain my entire life. I was having to channel all of the people back home, and my support team here, who believe in me so much.”

Dunfee sat in fourth and fifth for the majority of the race, focused on remaining patient and staying cool. With six kilometres to go, he made a bold move, putting himself in contention for a podium finish; he quickly moved into second, then took the lead with two kilometres left, pushing through a bad cramp.

“When I entered the stadium, I knew I could get myself 300m around the track and get to that finish line,” he said. “Then I just tried to take it in as much as I could and soak in that moment as much as possible. I saw my parents and my brother and his wife in the stands–that was really cool and special.”

“When I entered the stadium, I knew I could get myself 300m around the track to get to that finish line. Then I just tried to take it in as much as I could and soak in that moment as much as possible.”

—🗣️Newly-crowned world champion Evan Dunfee pic.twitter.com/2dUflY9dha

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) September 13, 2025

The last time Dunfee competed in Tokyo was in 2021, when he claimed Olympic bronze in the 50K race walk. At the 2023 world championships, he narrowly missed the podium, finishing in fourth, and last summer at the Paris Olympics, he took fifth.

“I’ve always struggled to believe in myself,” he said. “These last couple years, I’ve been trying to embrace the idea that I have these amazing people around me, and they seem to believe in me a lot. And if I think they’re amazing, maybe I should listen to them and also believe in me–and that’s really helped these last couple years.

“Going into today, this was the most confident and relaxed I’ve ever been,” Dunfee continued. “I was just ready to go out there and give it all I had, and that’s what I got to do.” Dunfee will compete again in the 20K race walk on Sept. 20 local time (Sept. 19 ET).

Lundman makes world championships debut

Making her senior world championships debut on the women’s side was Lantzville, B.C.’s Olivia Lundman, also competing in the 35K race walk. The 22-year-old, who also made her Olympic debut last summer in Paris, started the competition looking strong, but was disqualified from the event around the eight-kilometre mark after receiving four red cards for rule infringements (i.e. loss of contact or a bent knee).

See here for full results from the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Canadian Running’s coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships is brought to you by ASICS Canada.