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Australia's 2016 race walking bronze medalist Bird-Smith withdraws from Olympics

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SYDNEY, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia's race walker Dane Bird-Smith withdrew from the country's Olympic team on Sunday due to family medical reasons.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Sunday that Bird-Smith, who won bronze at Rio 2016 in the 20km race walk, had joined teammates in Cairns but announced this afternoon he would not head to Tokyo and would instead return to Brisbane.

According to the statement from the AOC, Bird-Smith said "there have been twists and turns over the last year that all Olympians have had to face. For me, that includes family health challenges that have become a priority."

"Couple these challenges with difficult travel restrictions around the COVID pandemic, I have made the decision to stay in Australia with my family and withdraw myself from the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo."

Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman said he fully understood the difficult decision Bird-Smith faced and fully supported him putting his family first.

The AOC said 25 members of the Australian athletics team had departed Cairns this evening and are scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on Monday morning. Enditem

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