Canada Games Day 2 Recap: Team Quebec has big day across events????????

Day two of the Canada Games athletics competition featured a new steeplechase record, a second consecutive gold for a Quebec sprinter, and a nail-biting end to a thrilling decathlon competition. Here are five stories that characterized Day 2 at Canada Games Park, and five stories to anticipate on Day 3.
 

DAY 2 – THE TOP 5

1- LAVOIE-BEAULIEU CAPTURES DECATHLON CROWN

Édouard Lavoie-Beaulieu entered the second of two days of decathlon competition with a sizeable lead on the rest of the field, and that lead only grew larger as events went by. The 20-year-old from Team Quebec took control of the competition when he tied the Canada Games decathlon pole vault record with a 4.50m-leap, besting the entire field by half a metre. Entering the final event, the 1500m, Lavoie-Beaulieu held a near-300 point advantage over Ryan Evans of New Brunswick. In an attempt to catch the leader in overall points, Evans ran the best 1500m in the field, gapping Lavoie-Beaulieu by nearly 200m. But the final tally favoured the Quebec athlete: 6725 to 6690, a massive personal best of 661 points for the champion.

2 – CATHERINE BEAUCHEMIN SETS NEW STEEPLECHASE RECORD

In 26 degree weather, Catherine Beauchemin of Team Quebec covered the 3,000m steeplechase in 10:09.69, besting Grace Fetherstonhaugh’s previous Canada Games record of 10:15.32. Beauchemin was competing in her second Canada games, after finishing eighth in the 1500m as a 19-year-old back in 2017. Now 23, a two-time U SPORTS cross-country medalist, and a major contender, she knew to take the lead from the start. Only Jenna McFadyen of Saskatchewan and Maya Kobylanski of BC with her, but both fell off the pace at the halfway mark when Beauchemin upped the tempo and clocked metronomic laps until the finish line.

3- DUPUY GOES TWO FOR TWO, BREAKS SECOND SPECIAL OLYMPICS RECORD

Gabriel Dupuy followed Tuesday’s triumphant victory with an equally-impressive performance on Wednesday. The Team Québec sprinter broke his second Canada Games Special Olympics record today in the 200m, after setting a new 100m record of 11.53 on Tuesday. Today, his time of 23.89 bested Malcolm Borsoi’s previous Games record of 24.23, set in 2017. Dupuy is also classified as a T20 athlete under the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) classification system. Athletes with intellectual impairments are eligible for Para Athletics events. For more information, follow this link.

4- ONTARIO GOES ONE-TWO IN THE TRIPLE JUMP

Jasmine Scott-Kilgo and Peace Omonzane of Ontario claimed the top two spots in the women’s triple jump, becoming the only two women in the field to clear the 12.5-metre barrier. At the hottest point of the afternoon, the 22-year-old Scott-Kilgo leaped for 12.74m in her second attempt and came just 30 cm short of the Canada Games record. She held a commanding lead until her teammate Omonzane bridged the gap and jumped for 12.56m in the fourth round. The two jumps won them gold and silver, while Lexie Shannon of New Brunswick claimed bronze on her final attempt with a 12.43m jump.

5- MAYR WINS A HIGH-JUMP NAIL-BITER

As the high jump bar reached 1.77m, only four women were left in the competition: Jenessa Wolfe of Nova Scotia, Trinity Hansma of B.C., Madisson Lawrence of Manitoba, and Madison Mayr of Alberta. Each athlete had cleared the previous height of 1.74, but only Mayr had been perfect throughout the rounds. By that point of the competition, however, the 21-year-old was stretching herself: the bar now stood higher than her personal best of 1.75m. Yet, continuing on her perfect streak, she sailed over it, claiming a new, two-centimetre PB. Then, she watched her competitors take turns attempting to clear the height and failing. That jump of 1.77m was not only a lifetime best, it also granted her a first Canada Games title. 

DAY 3 (AUGUST 19) – FIVE STORIES TO WATCH

1 – THE WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON WILL BE ANYBODY’S GAME

Fans of the multi-events can expect a multi-horse race in the women’s heptathlon, as several of Canada’s top contenders are on the start list. Canadian heptathlon championships silver medalist Maddison Lawrence of Manitoba, U SPORTS champion Dalyssa Huggins of Ontario, U SPORTS runner-up Hannah Blair of Ontario, and NACAC Combined Events championship Nicole Ostertag of Saskatchewan are all capable of winning gold. The seven-event competition begins Friday morning at 9:10 a.m. with the 200m.

2- RECORDS COULD FALL IN THE MEN’S 1500M FINAL

Dennis Stark’s Canada Games 1500m record of 3:45.87 will be in serious jeopardy on Friday, when one of the deepest metric mile finals in Games history takes place in the afternoon session. Twelve men with seed times faster than 3:54 qualified from the heats, and a few among them, such as Quebec’s Matthew Beaudet and Alberta’s Eric Lutz, have personal bests of five seconds faster than that record mark. But, 1500m finals are often unpredictable in their pace and finishing order. Expect Andrew Peverill from Nova Scotia, the fastest qualifier from the heats, to apply pressure on the favourites.

3-MURRAY AND ELIEZER BATTLE FOR MEN’S 100M TITLE

Eliezer Adjibi of Ontario and Malachi Murray of Alberta posted near-identical results in the 100m qualification round early on Tuesday, despite racing in two separate heats. Adjibi’s 10.47 came first, and stood as the best mark of the first round. Murray came 0.01 seconds away from his rival’s time in the following heat. The pair will meet again on Friday at 10:20 a.m., and perhaps challenge the Canada Games record of 10.38, held by Karson Kowalchuk and Nathan Taylor, both of Ontario.

4- CANADA’S FIRST AND THIRD BEST TRIPLE JUMPERS TO FACE OFF

Despite being just 22, Olorunfemi Akinduro of Ontario has jumped farther than any other Canadian in 2022. His distance of 15.67m, however, is just 17 cm better than his teammate Kenneth West’s best jump. The pair are expected to put on a show on Friday, when the jumpers hit the runway at 3:00 p.m. EST.

5- SUTHERLAND TO CHASE GOLD, WATSON’S 400MH RECORD

If Savannah Sutherland of Saskatchewan replicates her best race, the current Canada Games record will be no more. Then 19-year-old has a lifetime best of 57.27, and a wealth of international experience: in 2021, she was the world U20 bronze medalist over the distance. The record she chases, of 58.46, belongs to two-time Olympian Sage Watson of Alberta.
 

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