Declan Tingay

After starting in athletics age five, Declan Tingay closed his junior athletics career in 2018 with two excellent performances at global junior race walking events. In 2019 he made his senior Australian team debut at the World University Games and has gone on to compile an outstanding race walking career, that continues in 2026 with his selection in his second Commonwealth Games team. Over the last seven years on the National team, he has worn the green and gold on 12 occasions and achieved six top-20 global places (& two top-10) and a silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He has also won six Australian titles.

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“I started Little Athletics when I was five, my parents encouraged me into the sport because both parents wanted to give me an opportunity to play sport, and the athletics club was the most local to us,” recalled Tingay about his start in athletics in Western Australia. “Around U14s, my coach and one of my friends, who were both walkers inspired me try the event semi-seriously. I got to the point where the walk was the only thing I was good at (I wasn’t a good enough runner for the 1500), so I stuck with it.”

After just missing the national under-18 5000m walk record by a second, he easily took the Australian under-20 10,000m walk record when placing an outstanding fourth at the 2018 World Junior U20 Championships in a time of 40:49.72. His fourth place was second only to Nathan Deakes, but superior to Olympians Dane Bird-Smith, Jared Tallent, Nick A’Hern and Luke Adams at that championship. Also, in 2018 he won bronze as a member of the national under-20 team at the World Race Walking Championships in China. After unfortunately being disqualified in his next international outing at the 2019 World University Games, in 2021 he smashed his PBs from 5000m to 20km walk, earning selection for his Olympic debut.

At the Tokyo Olympics Declan strode home in the second half of the 20km Walk, moving from 20th mid-way to 17th at the finish line to achieve a personal best time of 1:24.00 in the stifling Sapporo heat.

“I’m sore, tired and hot, but mostly sore. It wasn’t the most fantastic performance, but I had a very fun time out there,” Declan  said. “My goal was to finish among the top-30. I obviously didn’t want to get disqualified either. I guess I’ve under promise and over delivered.”

In 2022 Declan represented Australian on three occasions, 10th at the World Race Walking Teams Championships (& 4th in the teams event), 17th at the World Championships and a silver in the 10,000m walk at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. During the year Declan has set PBs and records galore. Twice lowered the National 5000m walk record and once the 10,000m walk mark. At 20km walk, he started with a PB of 1:24.00 at the Olympics, then destroyed that time in early 2022 with 1:20.44 at the Oceania Championships.

In the summer of 2023, he further reduced his PB to 1:20.20 at the Oceania Champs ahead of 94 seconds PB of 1:18.46 in Japan in March 2023. The time elevated him to number two Australian all-time. But he was not done with PBs in 2023, going on to clock 1:18.30 for an amazing 8th at the world championships in Budapest in 2023.

After missing the 2024 Olympic selection trials in February with injury, Declan was back in form quickly clocking 1:20.00 for 20km walk in March in China, then just missing his own National 10,000m track walk record as he claimed the National title in April. Two weeks later at the World Teams Race Walking Championships in Turkey, he combined with Bec Henderson to qualify an Australian team for the Paris Olympics in the new event, the Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay. They placed 16th, qualifying a second Australian team by two places and 25 seconds.

Selected for his second Olympic Games, Declan walked brilliantly in the 20km event, placing 11th in a time of 1:19.56. It was just outside the fastest ever time recorded by an Aussie at the Olympics and only once had Australia placed higher since the London 2012 Olympics. He then teamed up with Bec Henderson in the Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay which placed 22nd.

Domestically in 2025, he won his fourth consecutive Australian 10,000m track walk title and overall, seventh National title. Internationally he clocked two sub-1:20 2km walks in Taicang in China in March and La Coruna in Spain in June. At the Tolyo world championships he recorded another excellent global result, placing 23rd in the 20km walk.

The 2026 campaign for Australian race walkers presented a new challenge, as the major target for selection, the Commonwealth Games including only a 10,000m track walk. In December 2025 Declan clocked a quick 38:23.06 in Sydney, placing second to Isaac Beacroft who broke Declan’s Australian in placing first. In January 2026 at the trials for the Commonwealth Games team, Declan continued his good form over the shorter distance, placing second in a time of 39:13.93.

In March he travelled to Japan to clock a quick time of 1:23.41 in the new distance of Half Marathon. That performance remains the best of record for Australia. Two weeks later he won the Australian Half Marathon title and a month later in mid-April was 27 th at the Race Walking Teams Championship.

In June he was selected for his second Commonwealth Games team and 12th Australian team.

Coaching: from dad Steve, in his earlier years, Declan is now coached in Melbourne by Brent Vallance…Education: Sports Science & Exercise and Health at the University of Western Australia until 2021. Currently at Australian Catholic Uni – Sports Science Honours under Louise Burke. Louise has produced a massive body of work on exercise nutrition and has worked with some of our best endurance athletes over the years…Employment: Running Warehouse Australia – this is also where all my shoes come from…Advice to your young self: Pursue mastery within the event (or sport), rather than chase results…Hobbies: tinker on and play with my small fleet of bikes (five now; one gravel, two road, one TT, and one single speed), sports photography…Home: lives and trains in Melbourne but raised in Perth.

@ 8 July 26 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au