Canadian Olympic bronze medallist running for municipal office

A Canadian Olympic bronze medallist is running, not walking, for office in the 2022 civic election.

Speed walker Evan Dunfee says he started thinking about making the jump from athletics to politics during the pandemic. The Richmond resident is hoping to be a city councillor.

“I’m rightly terrified, to be honest. This is a whole brand new world for me. It’s something I’m excited about and passionate about, but it’s also an area that I know very little of, and this is really the start of my journey to listening and to learning,” he told CityNews. ”

Dunfee says he loves municipal politics but he also loves the city he grew up in.

“When I’m out walking with my coach doing our 45k long walks around the city and we’re chatting and solving all the problems that we see at this level. This is where my passion is, and I love the … meticulous nature of it. And that’s kind of how it relates to me to training for a 50k race walk. And so that’s sort of where my passions lie.”

Related Article: B.C. athlete wins bronze in men’s 50km Race Walk at Tokyo Olympics

Dunfee hasn’t settled on the fine details of his platform just yet, but he says he has some ideas.

“I envision a walkable city … I’ve walked the city more than anybody else and I think it has an amazing potential to be a leader in North America in terms of active transport, I want to help design our streets for equity so that every road user can feel safe, and I want to see more kids and more seniors in our parks and using our public spaces.”

These are goals Dunfee has created based on his own experience in the city, but he says he’s looking forward to speaking to his neighbours and other community members for their ideas.

Voting day is Oct. 15 but Dunfee admits he hasn’t figured out how he’ll prepare while training for several events next year.

In the new year, he says he will be mainly focused on training with championship races scheduled in Eugene and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“So that will be the summer and then the elections October, and it’s so anything past October is sort of to be determined.”

Excited to navigate a new world over the next 10 months to be vulnerable, listen and learn and yah, see if I can do something valuable and meaningful in my community that isn’t walking fast for long periods of time (mind you this skill will be useful come door knocking season) https://t.co/iKDmkeJTqn

— Evan Dunfee (@EvanDunfee) December 6, 2021

Richmond has several parties but right now, but the 31-year-old says the plan is to run as an independent, “just chart my own course.”

“The hope for myself is that I’ll stay independent, and then amplify the voices of others that I agree with because I think that’s the best part about having an at large system where you’re not running directly against anyone else. You can amplify those voices.”

At this year’s Tokyo Olympics, Dunfee won bronze in the men’s 50km Race Walk event.

He reached the podium in a season-best time of 3:50.59 in a race of attrition amid the heat and humidity of Sapporo. The temperature at the 5:30 a.m. start was 25 C with over 70 per cent humidity and it got hotter as the race progressed.