DOHA – The extreme heat in Doha, Qatar, did not stop Canmore Olympic race walker Mathieu Bilodeau, as he persevered throughout the 50-kilometre race walk for the 2019 International Association of Athletics Federation World Championship, ultimately placing 14th in the world.
Bilodeau’s last appearance at the world event was in 2015, where he placed 31st. But this year, he jumped up in the rankings and finished with a time of 3:54:25.
“I was pretty happy to finish and be in the top 15. It’s a good way to start the next year for Tokyo with 14th place at World Championships," Bilodeau said. "It was rough, but at the end the results were so good that you kind of forget about the pain you had during the race."
Although the race walk event took place at night, the temperature in Doha was still scorching hot, with a high of 35 C in addition to the humidity. Bilodeau and his team had a strategy to combat the heat.
“We used some cold towels to cool our core temperature down, so that was a big part of our strategy and my fuelling ... At two kilometres, I could grab a bottle from the fuelling station, I was changing my hat every lap for one with some ice on it, so I was trying to cool down as much as possible every lap. I think it paid off,” Bilodeau said.
Although Bilodeau is stoked on this major feat in his race-walking career, he is looking to further improve his personal best time in order to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In order to qualify for the upcoming Olympics, Bilodeau needs to achieve a time of 3:50.00 by May 2020.
“I’m jumping into 2020 with confidence and I’m sure I can compete. I know that I belong there. I can train hard and be at the start line and say, ‘OK I can race with theses guys,’ ” Bilodeau said.
Visit matbilodeau.com to follow Bilodeau throughout his race walking journey.
