OLYMPIC gold medallist Jared Tallent and his race walking wife Claire are celebrating the birth of their first son Harvey Sebastian.
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Athletics Australia is already hoping this will be one talented little bub, announcing news of Harvey’s arrival via the national sporting body’s social media channels at the weekend, questioning when how long it might take Harvey to walk.
Mother and son remain in hospital in Adelaide, where the Tallents have been based since Jared left the Australian Institute of Sport in 2013 so they could be closer to Claire’s family.
The couple has been public about their emotional IVF journey the past two years and their hopes to have started a family when Claire retired from competition in 2012.
Harvey Sebastian Tallent was born late Thursday night, weighing in at 2.66 kilograms and 48.5 centimetres long.
Jared Tallent, who was back in his hometown Ballarat a week ago, told The Courier his world athletics championship preparations would be predominantly based closer to home where he would train accordingly for his main event, the 50-kilometre walk.
“Normally at this time of year we would probably head overseas and do some races to get prepared, but obviously I can’t do that,” Tallent said.
Normally at this time of year we would probably head overseas and do some races to get prepared, but obviously I can’t do that
- Jared Tallent
“I know what I have to get done in training and as long as I hit the key marks in training, I’ll be right.”
This would also allow his to be closer to his coach, Claire, to ensure he was ready for London in August.
Harvey’s birth continues what has been a massive year for Jared, now aged 32.
Jared was awarded the Olympic gold medal for the men’s 50-kilometre race walk four years after he crossed the finish line in the London Games behind Russian drug cheat Sergey Kirdyapkin. Court of Arbitration for Sport stripped the Russian of gold in March last year and, in a special ceremony in Melbourne last June, Jared finally received the gold – just as he was preparing to defend the Olympic title in Rio.
Australians fell in love with Jared and Claire when they wed in 2008, fittingly in South Australia’s Walkerville, weeks after Jared made his Olympic debut in Beijing and became the first Australian male to win two track medals at a Games in more than 100 years (he won 50km walk silver, 20km bronze).