Two months before the track and field world championships, Damian Warner will get the chance to test several of his decathlon events against top-level opposition at this summer’s Pan Am Games.
Athletics at the 2015 Pan American Games – Men
The London, Ontario native acknowledges that some of her biggest rivals will be attending the Pan American Games. In preparation for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, he says, “It will provide as an opportunity to assess what has to be worked on or modified.”
A total of 46 Canadian athletes (19 men and 27 women) will compete for 17 days beginning on July 26 in Lima, Peru. Among them are 29-year-old gold medalist Warner.
About 6,700 participants from 41 countries in 62 categories in 39 sports are expected to compete in what will be the largest sporting event ever staged in Peru.
In Toronto, Canadian athletes won 27 medals overall, including 11 gold, 7 silver, and 9 bronze.
Formerly known as the “five-time champion” of the Hypo Meeting
“For me, the goal entering into every tournament is to win,” says Warner, who just last month in Gotzis, Austria, won his fifth Hypo Meeting decathlon crown. Taking care of the details in advance is essential, but on the actual day of the event, it’s all about being prepared.
Warner finished with an 8,711 point total, a 2019 world-leading total, after setting personal bests in the 100 metre dash (10.12 seconds) and the shot throw (15.34m) at the competition.
Since the Hypo Meeting, he has spent most of his time training, but on June 23 at the Bob Vigars Classic in his birthplace, he set a personal best in the pole vault by jumping 4.85 metres.
Warner, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics, has already finished in the top three in 11 different outdoor events this season, including four victories. Warner attributes his success to training with his high school coach, Gar Leyshon, who he relocated to his hometown of Calgary to work with last September.
Moncton’s Genevieve Lalonde, who won bronze in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2015 Pan American Games, will be competing for gold this year.
The 27-year-old set a new Canadian record and personal best on May 18, clocking in at 9 minutes, 29.82 seconds; this time was also under the 9:30.00 Olympic qualifying requirement for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
This has been an outstanding year.
All of my players have been very dependable in their workouts and conscientious in their recuperation “Lalonde, who ran the 1,500 metres in 4 minutes and 8.54 seconds and won the event at the Speed River Inferno on June 7 in Guelph, Ontario, says.
At the end of March, she finished 20th in the 10-kilometer event at the IAAF world cross-country championships in Aarhus, Denmark, in a time of 38 minutes and 10 seconds, the greatest result by a North American.
In the NACAC cross-country championships a few weeks prior, Lalonde finished in fifth place, contributing to Canada’s senior women’s silver medal performance.
“My objective at Pan Ams is to compete to the best of my abilities and proudly wear the Canadian singlet,” said the 2018 Canadian women’s cross-country champion.
Putting on a Canadian singlet gives you “a Particular Vibe.”
Andre De Grasse, a sprinter for Canada, won a record-tying three medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He was one of several Canadians who had breakthrough performances at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Others include the middle-distance runner Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, the pole vaulter Shawn Barber, and the high jumper Derek Drouin.
The marathons (July 27) and race walks (Aug. 4-11) will be place at Kennedy Park, although the majority of the Canadian squad will compete at National Sports Village from August 6-11.
As a two-time medalist at the World Championships, Warner can attest to the fact that donning the Team Canada singlet is an honour. “That was one of my primary objectives when I first started running track.”
Lalonde continues: “Putting on the Canadian singlet adds significance to your performance and boosts your energy level. It’s like putting on your super suit, I tell everyone.”
Participating Canadians
- Runner-up, men’s 100-meter dash in the 4×100 relay: Mobolade Ajomale
- 800m runner Marco Arop, male
- Female 4x100m runner Ashlan Best
- Men’s 50-kilometer race walk winner: Mathieu Bilodeau
- In the women’s 4×100 metre relay, Khamica Bingham
- Men’s 200 and 4×100 relay winner Jerome Blake.
- The women’s 800 metre sprinter, Maite Bouchard
- Female sprinter Leya Buchanan (4 x 100)
- Women’s 800 metre runner Lindsey Butterworth
- Men’s 110-meter hurdler Johnathan Cabral.
- Women’s 100m hurdles runner Keira Christie-Galloway
- Women’s 10,000 metre runner Rachel Cliff
- Women’s 400-meter dash and 4×400-meter relay: Kyra Constantine
- Women’s shot put competitor Brittany Crew
- 50-kilometer and 20-kilometer race walk winners: men’s Evan Dunfee
- Heptathlon winner Georgia Ellenwood
- Women’s 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4×100-meter dasher Crystal Emmanuel
- Men’s 10,000 metre run, Ben Flanagan
- Women’s 100-meter hurdles (4-by-100): Phylicia George
- Women’s javelin champion Liz Gleadle
- Women’s 4×400 metre relay: Travia Jones
- 3,000-meter steeplechase winner Genevieve Lalonde (women)
- Man of the decathlon, Pierce LePage
- Men’s 10,000 metre run: Rory Linkletter
- Among the male high jumpers, we have Django Lovett.
- Men’s high jumper Mike Mason
- Men’s 800 metre runner Brandon McBride.
- Women’s 4×400-meter relay: Natasha McDonald
- Women’s shot put champion Sarah Mitton
- Tossing the shot for the men: Tim Nedow
- Jesus Christabel Nettey, female long jump
- In the women’s pole vault, Alysha Newman
- Women’s 5,000 metre runner Jessica O’Connell
- Winner of the Men’s 400 Meter Dash: Philip Osei
- Men’s 1,500 metre race winner William Paulson
- Men’s 200 and 4×100 metres, Brendon Rodney
- Women’s hammer thrower Camryn Rogers.
- First place in the women’s 5,000 metres goes to Andrea Seccafien.