FRONT RUNNER

CAN CANADIAN BRANDON MCBRIDE DOMINATE MIDDL EDIS TANCE RUNNING?

It has become a familiar sight on the Diamond League circuit

the past t wo seasons: the tall, lithe f igure of Canadian 800m runner Brandon McBride leading the f ield at the bell, daring his rivals to pass him. Not many do. The tactic has paid off for the 23-year-old. He won two ncaa 800m titles for Mississippi State University. He ran his current personal best in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics at a track meet in London by taking out the first 550m hard, leading the way. He was only beat in that race by France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, who went on to win the 2017 World Championship title. McBride’s 1:43.88 made him just the second Canadian ever to break 1:44. “I still feel like there’s a lot left in the tank,” McBride told the media after the race, hoping to win Canada’s first middle-distance Olympic track medal since 1936, perhaps its most contested, talent-laden period ever. Even Kenya’s David Rudisha, the world record-holder and two-time Olympic gold medallist, looks beatable by many in the current talent pool, including McBride.

While his front-running has yet to bring him medals at major championships, the Windsor, Ont. resident has emerged – along with fellow 800m runner Melissa Bishop – as quite possibly the most exciting middle-distance prospect this country has ever produced. Last summer, in his first Senior World Championships, back on that fast track in London, he made the final round in one of the toughest and widest-open events, although he faded to eighth. It was a learning experience.

“It was a tough World Championships for me emotionally,” McBride says of his performance in London. “I really didn’t know how demanding it was going to be going through the rounds. And then, unfortunately, when I got into the final, I didn’t have much left. It was bittersweet.”