Canada leaves London with nothing
Worlds meet was a disaster from get-go
On a dreamy night two years ago at Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing, Melissa Bishop raced to a silver medal in the 800 metres — and it was just one of an extraordinary three medals for Canada on that day.
Damian Warner won decathlon silver, and Canada’s 4x100 relay, anchored by emerging star Andre De Grasse, sprinted to bronze.
Two years after Canada’s historic eight-medal bonanza in Beijing, the team heads home from London and the IAAF World Championships empty-handed for the first time in 16 years. The meet will be remembered for injuries and illness. Pictures of joyous Canadians draped in the Maple Leaf were replaced by images of dejection and frustration.
Bishop was the last Canadian up Sunday night, racing to fifth in the 800 metres.
The 29-year-old from Eganville, Ont., ran one minute, 57.68 seconds, and after the race said she let herself get too far back in the pack when the leaders made their move with 300 metres to go.
“I don’t think I ran my race,” Bishop said. “It’s coming, it’s positive, it’s nothing I’m upset about, the result is more what I’m upset about. I’m tired of 1:57s, I want something faster.
“I think if I was closer to the front of that pack, I’m positive we could have run 1:56 (her Canadian record is 1:57.01). We’re right on the cusp.”
Bishop’s race was one of the most talked-about of the meet. Caster Semenya of South Africa, who won gold in 1:55.16, is at the centre of a dispute over whether females with excessive testosterone should be permitted to compete. Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi was second and American Ajee Wilson took the bronze.
Canada followed up Beijing with a six-medal performance in Rio, and the team arrived in London seemingly riding a giant wave of momentum.
Then De Grasse, pegged to win three medals in London, announced he was out with a torn hamstring two nights before the world championships began.
Olympic and world champion high jumper Derek Drouin pulled out with an Achilles injury, and a ferocious stomach bug — believed to be norovirus — swept through the Canadian team hotel, forcing nine Canadian athletes and staff into quarantine, including Warner.
Among Canada’s highlights at London Stadium, Toronto’s Brittany Crew became the first Canadian woman to reach the shot put final, finishing sixth. Crystal Emmanuel of Toronto became the first Canadian woman to race in the 200-metre final since 1983. She was seventh.
Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., ran a Canadian record to finish eighth in the men’s 10,000, then followed it up with a sixthplace finish in the men’s 5,000 — both Canadian bests. Canada had two runners in the men’s 5,000 final for the first time — Ahmed and Justyn Knight, a 21-year-old from Toronto, who finished ninth.
And Genevieve Lalonde of Moncton broke her own Canadian record in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase to finish 13th.