Athletics Canada today announced the athletes competing for the first world titles of this year at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China later this month, as well as athletes who have been provisionally selected.
Meet Team Canada
The squad representing the Maple Leaf in China March 21 – 23 consists of three men and eight women: Audrey Leduc, Aurora Rynda, Christopher Morales Williams, Kieran Lumb, Lucia Stafford, Malachi Murray, Sade McCreath, Sarah Mitton, Sienna MacDonald, Simone Plourde, and Tatiana Aholou.
Seven of these athletes competed in the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships and eight were part of the team that competed at the Paris Olympics last summer.
“Any opportunity you get to compete with some of the best athletes in the world goes a long way in terms of preparing athletes for future Championships,” said Athletics Canada’s Head Coach Glenroy Gilbert. “This is a big deal for the team. This is their opportunity to go to a World Indoors and perform and hopefully perform very well as a stepping stone to what they’re going to do outdoors. For each athlete and coach pairing, there are different expectations, different things that they’re looking to do to make sure that they are tracking in the right direction.”
Those provisionally selected athletes met the Athletics Canada indoor qualification standard in their respective events. They will be added to the team if they appear as “Qualified by Top List” on the World Athletics Road to Nanjing when the final list is published on March 12, 2025.
The Champ Is Her(e)
Defending women’s world indoor shot put champion Sarah Mitton is back to defend her crown, hot off a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold season where she won a medal of every colour – gold in Karlsruhe (Germany), silver in Madrid (Spain) and bronze in Torun (Poland).
“I’m used to being the underdog, but coming in as the defending champion and world leader puts a bit of a target on my back,” Mitton said. “I am in better throwing form right now than I was this time last year in Glasgow, so I think it just helps my confidence heading into Nanjing.”
Mitton broke the Canadian women’s indoor shot put record twice to win gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships a year ago in Glasgow, Scotland, ultimately ending up with a best throw of 20.22 metres. The two-time Olympian became Canada’s first ever world indoor champion in shot put.
In addition to those podium performances, Mitton has the second longest throw in the event this year, setting a new Canadian and North American record with her throw of 20.68 metres in her golden moment in Karlsruhe this season – a mark that was only surpassed by one centimetre by Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands this past weekend.
“Every championship is important in its own way. For me, World Indoors is important for two reasons,” she said. “The first being my legacy in the sport – I want to win as many majors and meets as possible to leave my mark on the sport. Secondly, in the Shot Put, World Indoors is equally as competitive as World Outdoors. The same top 16 athletes show up and show up big. There are 4 women over the 20m mark already, which is historic in its own way, but World Indoors is a great precursor for the outdoor season.”
Mitton throws for gold on the afternoon of Day 1 – Friday, March 21.
Nanjing Welcomes The World
The World Indoor Championships make their first appearance China, as Nanjing hosts the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
There will be six sessions of action-packed sport over three days of intense competition in Nanjing, with many of the best athletes in the world competing for prestigious World Indoor titles.
More than 500 athletes from some 120 nations are expected to compete for medals across 26 events at Nanjing’s Cube, part of the Nanjing Sports Training Centre in the Jiangbei New District, March 21- 23.
Get the entire schedule through the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 timetable on the World Athletics website, where the times will be displayed in local Nanjing time as well as the time in your current location.
Meet Team Canada
Confirmed Athletes
| Athlete | Event | Personal Coach | Club | Branch |
| Audrey Leduc | 60m | Fabrice Akue | Club d’athlétisme de Gatineau | QC |
| Aurora Rynda | 800m | Ron Warhurst | Very Nice Track Club | ON |
| Christopher Morales Williams | 400m | Karim Abdel Wahab | Speed Academy Athletics Club | ON |
| Kieran Lumb | 1500m | Andy Powell | Vancouver Thunderbirds | BC |
| Lucia Stafford | 1500m | Terry Radchenko | Royal City Athletics Club | ON |
| Malachi Murray | 60m | Rob Fisher | Capital City | AB |
| Sade McCreath | 60m | Charles Allen | Unattached | ON |
| Sarah Mitton | Shot Put | Richard Parkinson | SISU Throws | ON |
| Sienna Macdonald | 60mH | Les Gramantik | University of Calgary Athletics Club | AB |
| Simone Plourde | 1500m | Diljeet Taylor | Nike Swoosh TC / Saint Laurent Select | QC |
| Tatiana Aholou | 60mH | Alfredo Villar-Sbaffi | Saint Laurent Select | QC |
Provisionally Selected Athletes
| Athlete | Event | Personal Coach | Club | Branch |
| Foster Malleck | 1500m | Tom Fitzgerald | Laurel Creek Track and Field Club | ON |
| Norris Spike | 60m | Charles Allen | Unattached | ON |
| Robert Heppenstall | 800m | Phil Steel | Monte Cristo | ON |
MEDIA CONTACT:
Caroline Sharp, National Teams Communications Specialist
Athletics Canada
WhatsApp: (613) 323-5605 / Cell: (214) 601-8024
E: Caroline.Sharp@athletics.ca