By Canadian Press

World championship spots on the line at Canadian track and field championships

Jun 22, 2022 | 5:16 PM

LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA — This week’s Canadian track and field championships are the first in front of a crowd in three years.

And while fans won’t have a chance to cheer on Olympic stars Damian Warner and Andre De Grasse, there are numerous spots on the world championship team that will be hotly contested this week.

“It’s great to get all the best Canadians together again, get to compete against each other, even if the (Tokyo) Olympics were a bit strange (with no crowd), and a bit spread out with the marathon runners in a different city and all sorts of strange things,” said Simon Nathan, Athletics Canada’s high performance director.

“So, it’s really good to be back here. Nice fresh track (McLeod Athletic Park), hope for a good crowd and some enthusiasm and lots of qualifications on the line at the moment — it’s exciting, gives it some bite.”

De Grasse, a six-time Olympic medallist, recently contracted COVID-19, while Warner is skipping the meet because of a sore knee that’s been bothering him all season. Both received injury/illness exemptions.

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“Andre and Damian are short-term issues that shouldn’t impact the world championships,” Nathan said.

De Grasse’s positive test was “really unfortunate timing,” he added. Bouncing back from an early-season foot injury, he’d posted a season’s best 10.05 to win the 100 metres at the Oslo Diamond League last week.

“He hadn’t been having the greatest season but turned things around. … But my understanding is it’s not too serious,” Nathan said.

Moh Ahmed, the Olympic silver medallist in the 5,000 metres, is also scratched from the trials with an injury, but it’s not expected to impact his world championships, while distance runners Gabriela DeBues-Stafford have shut down their seasons due to injury.

“There’s definitely way more (injuries) than I would like,” Nathan said. “There’s a bit of a post-Olympic effect, which happens every cycle. And then that combined with such a short season until the next Olympics (2024 in Paris), I think people have been pushing hard.

“Then again, if you’re going to get hurt, now’s the time to do it,” he added.

COVID-19 forced cancellation of the Canadian championships in 2020, and then last year’s Olympic trials were held with small fields of competitors in each event in an empty stadium in Montreal.

The 20 kilometre race walk events, being held at Mission Raceway, kicked off the championships on Wednesday evening. Olympic bronze medallist Evan Dunfee and world bronze medallist Ben Thorne, who is making a comeback after a few years away from the sport, headlined the men’s field.

Some of the weekend’s highlights include Marco Arop and Brandon McBride in the 800 metres. The two world-class runners are separated by just 0.06 seconds in their personal best times.

Nate Riech, who owns three Paralympic world records, will race the able-bodied 1,500 metres. Camryn Rogers is fresh off a third NCAA title in the hammer throw. Her Canadian record toss last week is ninth all-time in the world. And high jumpers Django Lovett has a gold and bronze on the Diamond League circuit this season.

De Grasse’s positive COVID-19 test is a reminder that the pandemic still has the potential to derail athletes’ seasons, and Nathan said Athletics Canada was instructing athletes to carry on with masking, etc., despite the removal of mask mandates.

“It was really interesting for us again, in the (Tokyo) Olympic experience of everybody handwashing, wearing masks, social distancing, regardless of COVID, it was the lowest infections we’ve ever had as a team,” he said. “Lots of other teams had the same experience.

“So, we’re advising people to carry on wherever you fly, regardless of the rules, wear a mask, wash your hands, all those things and make them a habit and hopefully in 10 years time, people will still be doing that, regardless of the other pieces. But there is still a bit of a lottery effect as to who picks it up and who doesn’t.”

A norovirus swept through the Canadian team at the 2017 world championships, affecting more than a dozen athletes. Canada came home from London with no medals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2022.

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press