Canada’s best track & field athletes will descend on the Terry Fox Centre in Ottawa for the 2025 Canadian Track & Field Championships Presented by Bell. The first day of competition on Wednesday, July 30 features a media availability with some of the country’s biggest stars.
Joining the athletes will be youth from the Ottawa Lions Track & Field Club who will be in attendance to ask the athletes questions at the availability and participate in an autograph signing session.
Andre De Grasse, Audrey Leduc, Julia Hanes, Lauren Gale, Marco Arop, and Marissa Papaconstantinou will interact with the young track club members at 14:00 on Wednesday, July 30. Media are invited to attend the event and scrum with the athletes.
Marco Arop is the reigning world champion and an Olympic silver medallist in the men’s 800 metres. The Canadian champion and national record holder has been a force to be reckoned with in both the Grand Slam Track and Diamond League circuits this season.
Andre De Grasse is one of Canada’s most decorated athletes – the owner of seven Olympic medals, which is tied for the most among Canadian Olympians all-time, and five World Championships medals over the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metre relay. His record-tying seventh Olympic medal came in the men’s 4×100 metre relay gold at Paris 2024. That team earned a spot at the 2025 World Athletics Championships with their bronze medal at World Relays in May.
Lauren Gale made her second trip to the Olympic Games last summer, racing in the women’s 400 metres and being part of the women’s 4×100 metre relay team that finished sixth in Paris. Gale, an Ottawa native, was also part of the 4x400m mixed relay team and the women’s 4×400 metre relay team that booked their tickets to Worlds at World Relays this May.
Julia Hanes made her Paralympic debut last summer in Paris, after eclipsing her own Canadian record three times in six throws to win the F33 women’s shot put event at the 2024 Canadian Track and Field Championships. Hanes completed her 2024 Paralympic experience with a sixth place finish in the F33 women’s shot put and an eighth place finish in the women’s F34 javelin. A physician-resident in Vancouver, Hanes earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Ottawa in 2022.
Audrey Leduc keeps re-writing the Canadian record books with records in both the 100 and 200 metres. Leduc made her Olympic debut in 2024, finishing 12th in the women’s 100 metres, 15th in the 200 metres, and 6th in the 4×100 metre relay. The Gatineau native was part of the women’s 4×100 metre relay team that earned a quota spot for Canada at the 2025 World Athletics with a fifth place finish at World Relays in May.
Marissa Papaconstantinou looks to return to the World Para Athletics Championships for the first time since her bronze medal performance in the women’s T64 100 metres in 2023. The three-time Paralympian also won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The 2025 Canadian Track & Field Championships Presented by Bell will take center stage at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in Ottawa between July 30th – August 3rd. The Championships will include national championships for Open, U20, Para Athletics and Combined Events, serving as the selection trials for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan and the final qualification opportunity for the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, India.
What: Photo opportunity and media availability
When: Wednesday, July 30 from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Where: Terry Fox Athletic Facility, 2960 Riverside Dr., Ottawa, ON K1V 8N4
Who:
- Marco Arop
- Andre DeGrasse
- Audrey Leduc
- Julia Hanes
- Lauren Gale
- Marissa Papaconstantinou
Media Contact:
Caroline Sharp
National Teams Communications Specialist
Phone: (613) 323-5605
Caroline.Sharp@athletics.ca