RISING TRACK & FIELD STARS

Canada will field one of its deepest teams ever at the world track and field championships that begin Saturday in Beijing and hopes to top the five medals the Canadian team won in 2013 in Moscow. Lori Ewing writes about five Canadian athletes to watch.

SHAWNACY BARBER

The 21-year-old has broken the Canadian pole-vault record so many times this season, it might as well be written in pencil. The NCAA indoor and outdoor champion won the Pan Am Games and then, less than a week later, cleared 5.93 metres in London — another Canadian record. He’s ranked No. 3 in the world.

BRIANNE THEISEN-EATON

The 26-year-old from Humboldt, Sask., is ranked No. 1 in the world in the heptathlon. The world bronze medallist in 2013 won this year’s prestigious Hypo Meeting in Austria with a Canadianrecord 6,808 points, almost 300 points better than anyone else in the world this season.

DAMIAN WARNER

The 25-year-old from London, Ont., won the decathlon at the Pan Am Games, scoring 8,659 to break Michael Smith’s 19-yearold Canadian record. The score ranks Warner No. 2 in the world, although Olympic champion Ashton Eaton — husband to Brianne — has yet to compete in a decathlon this season.

CHRISTABEL NETTEY

The 24-year-old from Surrey, B.C., has been consistently solid in the long jump all season, proving her Canadian record of 6.99 metres was no fluke. The Pan American Games gold medallist goes into the world championships ranked No. 2.

DEREK DROUIN

The 25-year-old from Corunna, Ont., is an Olympic and world championship bronze medallist in high jump. He got off to a slow start this season but cleared 2.37 metres — which ranks him third in the world — to win the Pan Am Games. His Canadian-record height of 2.40 he set last season would put him at No. 2.