CANADA’S STARS THINK, DREAM BIG
TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS ALSO SERVE AS WORLD SELECTION TRIALS
Win Ottawa ill Andre De Grasse crack t he 10-second barrier on the banks of Rideau River on Friday?
Will there be room for all of Eganville, Ont., to cheer on hometown hero Melissa Bishop in the 800 metres Saturday?
How high will Derek Drouin raise the bar in the high jump and how high will Shawn Barber soar in the pole vault?
Those questions and many more will be answered this week as the country’s best and brightest track and field athletes from the 2016 Olympics in Brazil take over the Terry Fox Athletic Facility for the Canadian Track and Field championships. Rio on the Rideau, anyone? “A lot of the athletes people watched in Rio are going to be competing here, with the Canadian championship on the line,” Athletics Canada chief operating officer Mathieu Gentes said Monday as warm-up events began.
“The added wrinkle this year is that it’s also the world selection trials. On Thursday through Sunday, athletes will be vying for a spot to be on the national team that will compete in London in August at the world championships.”
The highlight of the week figures to be De Grasse, Canada’s poster boy from Rio, who will take centre stage while competing in the 100 metre finals on Friday and 200 metre finals on Sunday.
In addition to trying to fend off fellow Canadians Gavin Smellie, Aaron Brown and Akeem Haynes, the national championships will provide another stepping stone for De Grasse in his bid to eventually catch Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt.
While De Grasse experienced a coming out of sorts on the world stage at Rio — including a friendly rivalry against Bolt in both the 100 and 200 metres — he has his eyes set on surpassing Bolt at the worlds. De Grasse finished third behind Bolt and Justin Gatlin to win the bronze in the 100 metres in Rio and behind only Bolt in the 200 to win silver.
Bolt has said he will retire at the end of the season, but De Grasse has made it clear he wants to take over top spot in head to head competition before Bolt runs off into retirement.
The Canadian sprinting star, who typically ramps up his game as the season rolls along, ran a wind- aided 9.69 at a Diamond League event in Stockholm two weeks ago. Donovan Bailey holds the Canadian record of 9.84.
In preparation for Rio, De Grasse broke 10 seconds at the Canadian championships in Edmonton. The Terry Fox facility is also recognized as having a fast track.
“There are a couple of spots that are really important for (De Grasse) to test where he’s at and the Canadian championships is really important for him,” said Gentes. “Am I promising a sub 10 seconds on Friday? No. But I also wouldn’t be surprised.”
Bishop will be the unquestioned star for the women’s 800- metre finals on Saturday. The pride of Eganville, who finished fourth at the Olympics — South Africa’s controversial Caster Semenya claimed gold — is the only Canadian woman to have broken two minutes over the distance. She broke her own national record by running 1:57.02 in Rio and won silver at the 2015 world championships.
“Melissa is an ambassador for the event,” said Gentes. “And she basically guaranteed that all of Eganville was coming out to watch the race. And I don’t doubt that, judging by the (post- Olympic) parade last year.”
Drouin, who won gold with a high jump of 2.38 metres in Rio after winning bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London, also will be part of what Gentes describes as a “loaded” lineup on Saturday.
Barber, who won the world pole vault title at the 2015 championships, is looking to return to peak form after finishing 10th in Rio. The pole vault final is Saturday.
Tuesday features the completion of the under-20 decathlon and heptathlon competitions that began on Monday and the beginning of the two-day parathlete events.
On that front, Marissa Papaconstantinou, a rising 17-year-old star who finished ninth in the 100 metres at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, is a highlight attraction.
The week also will include Wednesday’s induction of a new group into the Canadian Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Glenroy Gilbert, who was part of Canada’s gold medal winning 4-x-100-metre relay team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta — along with Bailey, Bruny Surin and Robert Esmie — is among those who will be recognized.