Dane Bird-Smith got his IAAF Race Walking Challenge and Olympic campaigns off to the best possible start with a hard-fought victory in the opening leg of the challenge in the Australian city of Adelaide on Sunday morning (21).Bird-Smith, who finished eighth in the 20km race walk at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, gained the upper hand over South Africa&rsquo;s Lebogang Shange and Canada&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Benjamin Thorne to eke out a narrow win at the Oceania 20km Championships in a personal best of 1:20:04.The fast-rising Shange, 11th in Beijing, improved his own national record by more than a minute when finishing second in 1:20:06 with Thorne another two seconds back in third place. Thorne led in a trio of Canadians, with teammates Inaki Gomez (1:20:22) and Evan Dunfee (1:20:34) following him home.The international character of this first leg of the challenge was demonstrated by a top 10 containing two Australians, two South Africans, three Canadians and one each from Sweden, Chile and Poland.The Adelaide race, held in warm conditions on an inner-city course along Adelaide&rsquo;s Torrens River, also served as the Australian and Oceania Area Championship. Of all the accolades he emerged with, the most precious to Bird-Smith will be automatic nomination to the Australian team for Rio.It will be the first Olympics for Bird-Smith, who has competed at the past two World Championships, finishing 11th and eighth. He is likely to be joined in the team by second-placed Australian Rhydian Cowley, who finished ninth in 1:22:07.Bird-Smith is coached by his father, Dave Smith, who competed at two Olympic Games, took a bronze medal at the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games and won 12 Australian titles on road and track from 1982 to 1992.Cowley's coach, Simon Baker, is an Olympian of three Games, his best finish being a sixth place in the 50km at the 1988 Olympics.<h3>Perfect race, perfect pace</h3>Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom, who eventually finished sixth in 1:21:03, led by as much as 15 seconds early in the race before being reeled in. Bird-Smith moved to the front on the final lap and held on to a narrow margin to win in a sprint finish to regain the title he won in 2014. &ldquo;That was the perfect race, really," said Bird-Smith. "I paced it out with the guys that I needed to go with. It was about winning that Australian title today, nailing the race, and highlighting that in an Olympic year I am ready."Bird-Smith was not concerned about missing a sub-80-minute performance so narrowly, expressing confidence that it would come soon enough.&ldquo;The game plan from here is to finish off a few more races domestically," he added. "I&rsquo;ll be chasing a couple more personal bests, before heading to Europe for the World Race Walking Team Championships and challenge for a medal placing. I&rsquo;ll be hitting it until we get to Rio as much as I can.&rdquo;The women&rsquo;s challenge race also saw the winner emerge late, with Rachel Tallent, the younger sister of multiple World Championship and Olympic medallist Jared, always racing close to the lead but not taking control until the last lap of the 2km loop.Third-place finisher Beki Smith led through the middle stages of the race with 2012 Olympic representative Regan Lamble, who was ultimately a DNF, on her shoulder. They were joined, in turn, by Tallent and Tanya Holliday.Tallent took over the outright lead at the 18-kilometre mark and went on to win in a personal best time of 1:31:33, taking more than two minutes off her previous best, set last December. Holliday remained in second place through to the finish in 1:32:15 with Smith third in 1:32:49.&ldquo;That was very unexpected,&rdquo; said Tallent after her first national title. &ldquo;I was hoping for top-three in a pretty quick time, but to come away with the win in a time like that is even better.&rdquo;Tallent is coached by her older brother and three-time Olympic medallist Jared, with the result a fillip for her as she tries to make a name for herself independent of the family tie. &ldquo;I knew that coming in to this year I had a lot to work on after my experience at the World Championships last year (where she was 34th). I wanted to be as competitive as I could be, and knowing my older brother, I wanted to do as much as I can to not be his little sister. I am stoked to have made the team now and it&rsquo;s about reassessing and improving as much as I can. I don&rsquo;t want to be a spectator when I am over there,&rdquo; added Tallent, who nevertheless got a huge hug by her big brother and many other family and friends after the finish.Len Johnson for the IAAF

Dane Bird-Smith got his IAAF Race Walking Challenge and Olympic campaigns off to the best possible start with a hard-fought victory in the opening leg of the challenge in the Australian city of Adelaide on Sunday morning (21).

Bird-Smith gets IAAF Race Walking Challenge off to a flying start in Adelaide

Jared Tallent will have all his options open as he pursues a gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this summer after producing a dominant display to win round one of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Adelaide, Australian on Sunday morning (22).Capitalising on the late withdrawal of fellow Australian Dane Bird-Smith, who was ill, and making light of the sweltering conditions, Tallent led from start to finish to win over 10 two-kilometre loops in 1:24:05.New Zealand&rsquo;s Quentin Rew was second in 1:25:22 and Australia&rsquo;s Chris Erickson third in 1:25:42.The win virtually ensures Tallent will be selected for the Beijing team at 20km &ndash; he and Erickson have already been selected for 50km &ndash; which would give him two chances of completing the one achievement so far to elude him: a gold medal at a major championship. Since breaking through at international level with two medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, bronze in the 20km and silver in the 50km, Tallent has gone on to win a medal at every global championship since with the sole exception of the 2009 World Championships. He is determined to complete the circle with a gold medal on his return to the Chinese capital this August.&ldquo;I definitely want to double in Beijing," he said. "I had a lot of success there in 2008 and it would be amazing to replicate that. I believe that I always walk better in the 50km event if I&rsquo;ve had the chance to race the 20km earlier in the program.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a bit of work to do before then. I&rsquo;ve got a couple of races on the cards in Mexico and Japan, and some time at the altitude house at the Australian Institute of Sport as well. I&rsquo;m looking forward to it all.&rdquo;The weather was undoubtedly a factor in the Adelaide race. The South Australian capital is in the grip of a heat-wave with a minimum overnight temperature of 26 degrees Celsius soaring quickly into the high 30s.<h3>Home comfort </h3> At least Tallent was acclimatised. Right at home, in fact.&ldquo;I only live about five kilometres from where we are today so it was great to get up at my leisure and come down to race in front of a good group of family and friends. It&rsquo;s nice to perform well in front of them,&rdquo; he added.Bird-Smith is also virtually certain of selection for Beijing on the basis of his 14th place over 20km at last year&rsquo;s IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Taicang. Tallent said his rival&rsquo;s withdrawal caused some change in his thinking.&ldquo;My intention was to walk alongside Dane but unfortunately due to sickness he wasn&rsquo;t able to race today. I thought I would start a bit quicker and see if I was strong enough to hold off the other guys and I was able to do that, so it&rsquo;s a good result.&rdquo;The challenge races also doubled as the Oceania and Australian Race Walking Championships. Jared Tallent took his seventh national title, resuming &lsquo;normal service&rsquo; after he lost to Bird-Smith in Hobart last year when he was disqualified, learning of his &lsquo;DQ&rsquo; only after crossing the line in first place. The women&rsquo;s 20km in Adelaide was a much more hard-fought affair, with the eventual winner Tanya Holliday sharing the front position for much of the race before winning in 1:34:05. Beki Smith was second in 1:34:35 and Rachel Tallent, Jared&rsquo;s younger sister, third in 1:35:03 to complete an all-Australian podium.The women&rsquo;s race went through the half-way point in 46:23 with Holliday moving into the outright lead shortly before the 16km mark. She extended a narrow lead at the bell to 30 seconds at the finish line.Holliday&rsquo;s win at home in Adelaide is her first since taking the Australian leg of the 2013 challenge in Hobart. Like Jared Tallent, she is now in the best position for selection for Beijing.The 26-year-old went to the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow two years ago but finished 45th and admitted to being a little overwhelmed by the experience.&ldquo;I got a bit caught up in the atmosphere of it all,&rdquo; Holliday said in Adelaide. &ldquo;This year I expect to do it very differently. I&rsquo;m moving to Canberra this week to train under (2007 50km world champion Nathan Deakes&rsquo; coach) Craig Hilliard and I&rsquo;m keen for the challenge and the opportunity to compete for Australia again.&rdquo;Len Johnson for the IAAF

Jared Tallent will have all his options open as he pursues a gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this summer after producing a dominant display to win round one of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Adelaide, Australian on Sunday morning (22).

Tallent has all options open after Adelaide win

Three Tallents in the same family should be enough for anyone. But it looks as if there are more in the pipeline once Claire Tallent decides to hang up her racers – although starting a family with the man who won a second bronze at the IAAF World Walking Cup Sunday might now be on hold. Buoyed by a March PB that bettered her previous by three minutes plus, and an impressive attack on the almost impregnable Russians in the 20k that followed Jared’s medal, Claire Tallent wants a bit more. Both want a lot more for sister and sister-in-law Rachel Tallent. The youngest of a unique trio – the first time three family members have competed at the World Cup at the same time – can’t wait for her brother to quit the sport. He nags, you see. "It’s for her own good," explains Jared, "we only want what’s best for her." But the bronze and silver Olympic medallist admits he takes on the role of surrogate dad when the three are away on walking trips like the one to Saransk in Russia. Does he watch what she does? What she eats, perhaps? Does he tell her off for sneaking a chocolate bar now and then? "All the time," claims Rachel in mock despair. "I keep telling Jared I’m still a junior, and I should be allowed a few treats but he’s on my case." Jared counters that she is the family favourite of six, and a phone call home to Australia might not go down well if there was a dereliction of duties. The trio is half-joking of course, but when the blonde Rachel was interesting a group of young Canadian athletes during the weekend – one of them felt compelled to ask Jared for permission to ask her out to a club. "I wasn’t drinking or anything like that," adds Rachel hastily. Perish the thought, especially as big brother is watching warily from the next seat. The junior is clearly serious about treading in the footsteps of bruv and sis-in-law and the IAAF World Junior Championships is next on the list of majors after committing to the AIS in Canberra. The specialist sports centre for Aussies is where the best go for the next step in their athletics career. It’s where Jared and Claire started out before buying a house close by, although Rachel has been invited to stay many times. "No thanks," she smiles. "I see enough of them when we’re training during the week." There is an afternoon session when the three might do an easy 10k together, or when Rachel and Claire are in the weights room. "Jared doesn’t bother with that," his wife points out. And to his credit the brother-husband admits they had to modify Rachel’s training after she picked up a stress fracture two weeks in to a particular programme. It doesn’t seem to have been anyone’s fault, although a bit more analysis went into the 10k walker’s preparation that saw her lead the first 2k in the junior 10k race at Saransk. "She was always race walking around the house as child," reckons Jared, "it was pretty easy for her to make the transition to competition." But none of the other four brothers and sisters did so, and Rachel reckons that when her brother – 12 years the elder – retires, she might stop being known as 'Jared’s little sister’. Come to that, Claire adds quickly, she might not be always be known as 'Jared’s wife.’ The man in question reckoned he was 'out of his depth’ in the last 10k of the 50k against the Russians in Saransk – but he is being tough on himself having led the race from the gun in a deliberate ploy to draw the sting from the red vests. Surely a major gold will follow at some stage. As a result, it might be a while before little sister has an identity in his own right. Her walking guardian plans to medal at this Olympics in August, and the next in 2016. Maybe by then, the women Tallents will be jostling for space on the mantelpiece with their own awards thanks to his considered coaching, or nagging – depending on your point of view. Paul Warburton for the IAAF

Three Tallents in the same family should be enough for anyone.

Bird-Smith gets IAAF Race Walking Challenge off to a flying start in Adelaide

Tallent has all options open after Adelaide win

No end in sight for the Tallent trio - Saransk 2012