Day 1 of the 2021 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Trials presented by Bell was an opportunity for Canadian athletes to shoot for their event’s qualifying standard, or accumulate points to work their way to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For Lindsey Butterworth and John Gay: Mission accomplished.
Butterworth ran under the Olympic qualifying standard in the women’s 800-metres, winning her first national championship in a time of 1:59.19.
“I’m so happy and I knew it was there and I just wanted to go out and compete,” Butterworth said. “I know that all the girls in the women’s 800 are world-class, so I just wanted to get in there for the win.”
Gay made his case for Tokyo with a blistering time of 8:28.68 in the men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase.
2021 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
| WOMEN | MEN | ||||
| 100m | Crystal Emmanuel Marissa Papaconstantinou (T46) | 11.18 13.48 | 100m | Aaron Brown Austin Ingram (T13) | 10.12 11.54 |
| 400m | Alicia Brown Amanda Rummery (T46) | 51.96 1:01.68 | 400m | Philip Osei Zachary Gingras (T38) Thomas Nordamdeau (T47) | 46.60 53.78 51.25 |
| 800m | Lindsey Butterworth | 1:59.19 | 800m | Robert Heppenstall | 1:46.79 |
| 400mH | Noelle Montcalm | 56.34 | 3000mSC | John Gay | 8:20.68 |
| 3000mSC | Regan Yee | 9:31.07 | Long jump | Damian Warner | 7.81m |
| Triple jump | Caroline Ehrhardt | 12.98m | Shot put | Mark Bujnowski | 18.30m |
| Shot put | Sarah Mitton Charlotte Bolton (F41) | 18.21m 8.77m | |||
| Javelin | Liz Gleadle | 59.81m |
We are half-way through the men’s decathlon and Taylor Ehrhardt sits in the lead. Click here to view the results from the first five events in the most gruelling competition of the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Trials presented by Bell.
Visit our Facebook page to view a collection of photos from Day 1 of the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Trials.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It was kind of the storybook ending to this long chase of a season that I’ve had. A week ago, I was going to hop on a flight to Sweden for a last-chance race and just had a gut feeling that that wasn’t where I’m supposed to be. I need to be here. I need run these national championships. They’re our Olympic Trials. I had actually already taken one of my three flights to get there and pulled the plug when we landed in Montreal a week ago. Here I am, a week later, and it’s just confirmation that gut instinct, as crazy as it was at the time, paid off.” – John Gay
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
| There is still time to activate your free three-day RunnerSpace +PLUS subscription to access the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Trials. Head over to plus.runnerspace.com and use the code BellTrials. Missed a race or your favourite event? Check out the highlights here. |
A LOOK AHEAD
Every event at the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Trials presented by Bell is a FINAL, making it impossible to pick just two or three to highlight. So, here’s a look at tomorrow’s schedule:
| Saturday, June 26 | |||
| TIME | STAGE | CAT. | EVENT |
| 11:00 | FINAL | W | 100m hurdles |
| 11:30 | FINAL | M | 110m hurdles |
| 12:00 | DECATHLON | M | 110m hurdles |
| 12:30 | FINAL | W | 200m |
| 13:00 | FINAL | M | 200m |
| 13:00 | DECATHLON | M | Discus |
| 15:00 | DECATHLON | M | Pole vault |
| 18:00 | DECATHLON | M | Javelin |
| 19:00 | DECATHLON | M | 1500m |
| 19:15 | FINAL | M / W | Hammer |
| 20:00 | FINAL | M | 5000m |
| 20:45 | FINAL | W | Long jump |
TRACKING OLYMPIC STANDARD
Heading into Trials, 10 athletes had been nominated to Team Canada (in bold font below) for the Olympic Games, while the following athletes have achieved the entry standard, including Lindsey Butterworth and John Gay who qualified today in Montreal:
| WOMEN | MEN | ||||
| 100m | 100m | Andre De Grasse | 9.90 (0.6) | ||
| 200m | Crystal Emmanuel | 22.65 (0.4) | 200m | Andre De Grasse Aaron Brown | 19.87 (0.8) 19.95 (-0.1) |
| 400m | Kyra Constantine Natassha McDonald | 50.87 50.91 | 400m | ||
| 800m | Melissa Bishop-Nriagu Lindsey Butterworth | 1:58.62 1:59.19 | 800m | Brandon McBride Marco Arop | 1:43.51 1:44.25 |
| 1500m | Gabriela DeBues-Stafford Natalia Hawthorn | 3:56.12 4:04.20 | 1500m | ||
| 5000m | Andrea Seccafien Julie-Anne Staehli Kate Van Buskirk Natalia Hawthorn | 14:57.07 14:57.50 14:59.80 15:05.91 | 5000m | Mohammed Ahmed Justyn Knight Lucas Bruchet | 12:50.12 12:51.93 13:12.56 |
| 10,000m | Andrea Seccafien | 31:13.94 | 10,000m | Mohammed Ahmed | 26:59.35 |
| 100mH | 110mH | ||||
| 400mH | Sage Watson | 54.32 | 400mH | ||
| 3000mSC | Geneviève Lalonde | 9:29.92 | 3000mSC | Matthew Hughes John Gay | 8:13.12 8:20.68 |
| High jump | High jump | ||||
| Pole vault | Alysha Newman Anicka Newell | 4.82m 4.70m | Pole vault | ||
| Long jump | Long jump | ||||
| Triple jump | Triple jump | ||||
| Shot put | Brittany Crew Sarah Mitton | 19.28m 18.89m | Shot put | Tim Nedow | 21.11 |
| Discus throw | Discus throw | ||||
| Hammer throw | Camryn Rogers | 75.52 | Hammer throw | ||
| Javelin throw | Javelin throw | ||||
| Marathon | Malindi Elmore Natasha Wodak Rachel Cliff Dayna Pidhoresky Lyndsay Tessier^ | 2:24:50 2:26:19 2:26:56 2:29:03 | Marathon | Trevor Hofbauer Cameron Levins Benjamin Preisner Tristan Woodfine | 2:09:51 2:10:14 2:10:17 2:10:51 |
| Hep. | Dec. | Damian Warner Pierce LePage | 8,995 8,534 | ||
| 20km RW | 20km RW | ||||
| 50km RW | Evan Dunfee Mathieu Bilodeau* | 3:48:54 |
*Nominated to Team Canada based on his World Rankings positions as of June 2.
^Qualified by designated competition (Tessier finished ninth at the 2019 IAAF World Championships).
Note: The following athletes have qualified by entry standard but have officially withdrawn from the event.
- Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (800m – 1:58.70)
- Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (5000m – 14:44.12)
- Aaron Brown (100m – 9.96)
- Justyn Knight (1500m – 3:33.41)
- Damian Warner (Long jump – 8.28m)
MEDIA INFO
Interview requests
Athletes, National Team coaches, as well as Athletics Canada staff members, are available to members of the media throughout Trials by request via Zoom. Members of the media are asked to email Athletics Canada’s Communications and Marketing Manager, Amanda Nigh (amanda.nigh@athletics.ca), to make the appropriate arrangements. Unless competing in more than one event, athletes will be available following each final or at a time that is convenient for both parties.
Access to photos and more
With the Claude Robillard track and field facility closed to all spectators, including members of the media, several resources have been made available:
- Photos
- Audio clips
- Video clips courtesy RunnerSpace (AthleticsCanada.tv)
- Daily updates
- Start lists and results
- Historical Championships results
- Canadian records
To access these resources, members of the media were asked to complete the media accreditation form by Thursday, June 24. If you are having difficulties accessing the Dropbox folder, please contact Amanda Nigh (amanda.nigh@athletics.ca).