Canadian track stars enter national championships on high after Rio success

Damain Warner says he can sense the optimism around Canada’s track and field athletes.

The country’s top athletics stars are in Ottawa this week for the Canadian track and field championships. They enter the competition riding a wave of success from the 2016 Rio Olympics that saw Canada win six medals in athletics, led by sprinter Andre De Grasse’s silver in the men’s 200 metres and bronze in the 100 and 4x100 relay.

Derek Drouin won gold in high jump, while Warner and Brianne Theisen-Eaton won bronze in decathlon and heptahlon, respectively.

“Over the last little while it’s been really cool to see the transition,” Warner said Wednesday. “With Andre, and the relay team and me and Derek and Brianne and (runner Melissa Bishop) doing really well. There’s a whole bunch of other people doing extremely well so it’s kind of cool to be a part of that whole excitement and whole trend and I think it’s going to continue to grow.”

Warner will be competing in hurdles and long jump in Ottawa as a tune-up for the decathlon at the world championships in London next month.

“I’m qualified in the decathlon right now so I’m looking to come out here and compete,” said Warner. “I won the Canadian championships in hurdles in 2015 so I’d like to get that championship back.”

Glenroy Gilbert, interim head coach at Athletics Canada and 1996 Olympic gold medallist in the 4x100 relay, says it’s exciting to see Canada making a name for itself on the world stage.

“There were some dark times,” said Gilbert, who will be inducted into Athletics Canada’s Hall of Fame Wednesday night. “We’ve won five, eight, six medals at the last three big world events and we’ve never been in that place. This is a unique group of athletes that we have and it’s a unique time for Canadian athletics.”

Being part of Canada’s resurgence on the world stage is added incentive for 25-year-old Genevieve Lalonde, who holds the Canadian record in 3,000 metre steeplechase.

“From the Pan Am Games when they were in Toronto until now and beyond we’ve seen athletes coming from nowhere and breaking into that international scene and doing really well and having those high performances at major championships when it counts,” said Lalonde.