Claire Woods

Claire Tallent in 2008

Claire Woods (born 6 July 1981), also known as Claire Tallent, is an Australian racewalker.

Early life and education

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Claire Woods was born on 6 July 1981.[1]

She attended Mary MacKillop College in the Adelaide suburb of Kensington, graduating in 1998.[2]

Career

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Woods has represented Australia at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships in Athletics.[citation needed]

Woods made her international debut at the World Walking Cup in Naumburg, Germany in 2004[3] in the 20 km walk.

At her first Olympics, she finished in 28th place in an equal personal best of 1:33:02.[3]

Woods was 19th at the 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuhua, Mexico and claimed silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, behind England's Johanna Jackson.[citation needed]

She began her 2011 season with a husband and wife double at the Australian 20 km walk championships, taking the women's title while her husband won on the men's side.[4]

In March 2012, Woods achieved a lifetime best of 1:28:53 in the 20 km walk.[5] She then achieved the 1st position in both the 5000m and 10 km events at the Oceania Championships.[citation needed]

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Woods was in tenth place in the Women's 20 km walk at 12 km but was disqualified shortly after.[citation needed]

Woods retired from international competition in 2012 and coached her husband Jared Tallent to a medal at every major championship, culminating in a silver medal in the 50 km walk at the 2016 Rio Olympics.[6]

After a hiatus from competition, Woods came 43rd in the Women's 20 km walk at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, just eleven weeks after giving birth to her son.[7]

While leading the 20 km walk at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, she was disqualified approximately 2 km from the finishing line.[8]

Weeks after her disqualification, she finished third at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China in the women's 50 km walk in an Oceania and Australian record of 4:09:33.[9][10]

In January 2019, Woods won the Women's 50 km walk at the USA National Championships in Santee, California in a time of 4:12:44.[11][12] This performance, when combined with her Oceania record, saw Woods become the world's number one ranked 50 km walker for four weeks in 2019.[11]

In 2019 Woods was one of five female international race walkers that failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the Women's 50 km walk included in the Tokyo Olympics program.[13]

Personal life

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Weeks after the Beijing Olympics (in August 2008), Woods married international racewalker and Olympic gold medallist Jared Tallent in Walkerville, South Australia,[14][15] and for some time, changed her name to Claire Tallent. They had two children, born in 2013 and 2017 by IVF.[16]

They were later divorced,[citation needed] and Woods reverted to her birth name.[11]

Achievements

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Australia
2007 Universiade Bangkok, Thailand 14th 20 km 1:45:07 hrs
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 27th 20 km 1:33:02 hrs
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 27th 20 km 1:38:12 hrs
2010 Commonwealth Games New Delhi, India 2nd 20 km 1:36:55 hrs
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 21st 20 km 1:34:46 hrs
2012 Oceania Championships (Regional Division West) Cairns, Australia 1st 5000 m 21:57.48 min
1st 10 km 44.19 min
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom – 20 km DQ
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 43rd 20 km 1:37:05
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia – 20 km DQ

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Athletics Results". Australian Athletics. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Jada Alberts, Awarded" (PDF). MMCOSA Old Scholars Newsletter (1, 2014): 5. 2014. Jada attended Mary MacKillop College from 1996 to 2001, and in August 2013, was announced as the winner of The Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright's Award 2013
  3. ^ a b "Claire Tallent". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  4. ^ Johnson, Len (19 February 2011). "Tallents open 2011 with Australian 20Km titles in Hobart-IAAF Race Walking Challenge". IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-20. Archived 22 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Claire WOODS | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  6. ^ Australia, Athletics. "Claire Tallent (SA)". www.athletics.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Now that's how you take the baby for a walk". 14 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Montag wins walk; Tallent disqualified". ESPN.com. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  9. ^ "High and low – Claire Tallent".
  10. ^ Admin, Runnerstribe (6 May 2018). "Claire Tallent bounces back to win historic Bronze". Runner's Tribe. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "Claire Woods". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  12. ^ Stone, Ken (28 January 2019). "Aussie Wins Santee 50K Race Walk, Labels Women's Olympic Exclusion 'Absurd'". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  13. ^ Larkin, Steve (4 February 2020). "Bid fails for Olympic women's 50km walk". The Advocate. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  14. ^ Gullan, Scott (22 August 2008). "Jared Tallent and Claire Woods to wed in Walkerville". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  15. ^ "This sporting life - Jared Tallent". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  16. ^ Australian racewalking couple Jared and Claire Tallent welcome the pitter patter of little feet with their first child The Advertiser, 29 May 2017.
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