By performances, Deakes is Australia's best and most successful ever race walker, winning several international medals and holding many Australian and World Records.

[1] He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

He also won bronze medals at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games and the 1996 World Junior Championships.

On 21 July 2008 Deakes announced that he would withdraw from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, with a hamstring tendon injury that required surgery to repair.

His last competitive outing came at the 2012 London Olympics, where he competed despite a year riddled with injury and finished 19th in the 50 km walk.