McDonald

Track was just a hobby, something Natassha McDonald did for fun, until she was forced to sit on the sidelines.

Like many young Canadians, McDonald gave track and field a shot in elementary school and then joined her high school track team at David Suzuki Secondary School where she won her first race in 10th grade. She loved the feeling of standing on top of the podium, looking out into the crowd, and knowing how proud her coach and family were of her that day. Looking back, that’s the moment it all started.

That same year, McDonald captured two silver and a bronze at the 2013 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Championships (OFSSA) and competed in her first Canadian Youth Championships, earning silver in the 300-metre hurdles and a bronze in the 400 metres. Just when things were about to get serious on the track, McDonald tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) playing flag football, forcing her to miss the entire 2014 season. Her time away from the track quickly made her realize how much she missed racing, and she couldn’t wait to get back on the start line.

McDonald found her stride in 2015, landing on the podium three times at OFSAA (silver in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres), and capturing a fourth- and fifth-place finish at the Canadian Junior Championships in the 400 metres and 400-metre hurdles, respectively. With the 2015 Pan American Games taking place in her own backyard, McDonald turned spectator to take in the events. Sitting in the stands at Pan Am Athletics Stadium, McDonald was inspired to represent Canada internationally one day. Little did she know that ‘one day’ was just around the corner.

The then 18-year-old capped off her OFSAA career in 2016 with three silver-medal performances (100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres), stood on top of the podium at the Canadian U20 Championships for the first time and qualified for the IAAF World U20 Championships where she’d go on to place seventh in the 400 metres and earn a bronze medal as part of the 4x400-metre relay team.

McDonald kicked off 2017 as a freshman at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, where she was crowned national champion for the first time in the women’s 400 metres at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships, posting a time of 53.52 seconds. Her breakthrough performance came in July when she stunned the field posting a time of 52.20 to win her first Canadian senior championship in the 400 metres, earning her spot on Canada’s 4x400-metre relay team at the IAAF World Championships. That summer she also took to the start line at the Francophone Games where she won silver in the 400 metres.

In 2018, McDonald successfully defended her NJCAA title, winning gold in the 400 metres in a time of 53.44 seconds. At the end of the year, she transferred to the University of Alabama and would go on to be a semi-finalist at the 2019 NCAA Championships. She was later named to Team Canada for the NACAC U23 Championships, where to brought home three medals (silver in the 200 metres and 4x100-metre relay, and bronze in the 4x400-metre mixed relay), and the Pan American Games that saw her win silver in the 4x400-metre relay.

McDonald, a three-time All-American, had the race of her career, dipping under the Olympic Qualification Standard (51.35 seconds) for the first time in the 400 metres on May 15, 2021 -- and then she did it again. McDonald’s time in her 400-metre heat was 51.13 seconds. Then she topped herself to cross the finish in line 50.91 seconds at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Her second-place finish punched her ticket to Tokyo, where she’ll represent Canada for the first time at an Olympic Games. She wasn’t done there, though. McDonald won the NCAA East Preliminary race in Florida with yet another time under the standard, this time clocking in at 51.03 seconds.