Nicholas A'Hern

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Medal record
Nicholas A'Hern
Men's Athletics
Competitor for Australia
Commonwealth Games
Gold	1994 Victoria	30km Walk
Gold	1998 Kuala Lumpur	20km Walk

Nicholas ("Nick") A'Hern (born 6 January 1969 in Swansea, United Kingdom) is a retired Australian race walker, who won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in both Victoria (1994) and Kuala Lumpur (1998).

A self-employed, Canberra-based hairdresser, he also finished in a fine fourth position in the 20km road walk at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia after undergoing shin surgery in 1995. A’Hern was in second place two kilometres from the end in Atlanta, but faded to finish eight seconds behind the bronze medal winner.

Prior to that A’Hern’s experience at major meets had been sketchy. He was 20th in the 1991 World Championships 20km, 22nd at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 24th at the 1993 worlds. Things picked up at the 1995 worlds where he finished 11th, before breaking into the top 10 ahead of the Atlanta Games.

At the 1997 World Championships A’Hern's hopes were dashed when he was pushed over by another athlete early in the race. A’Hern recovered to finish 20th. Through the second half of the 1990s, A’Hern has dominated the domestic scene in the 20km road walk. He won five consecutive national titles over that distance between 1994 and 1998, but that sequence was broken in 1999 by up and comer Nathan Deakes.

[edit] Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	20th	20 km
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	22nd	20 km
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	24th	20 km
1994	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	30 km^[1]
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	11th	20 km
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	4th	20 km^[2]
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	19th	20 km
1997	World Race Walking Cup	Poděbrady, Czech Republic	12th	20 km
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1st	20 km^[3]
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	10th	20 km