Canadian Track and Field - Olympics in Review
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
OTTAWA - The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were Athletics Canada’s best showing on the track and in the field in 12 years. Out of 61 countries with top eight finishes at the “Bird’s Nest”, Canada finished in 16th place overall with 23 points based on the IAAF’s point system (8 points for Gold, 7 for Silver, 6 for Bronze, 5 for 4th, 4 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th and 1 for 8th.)
Of the 29 events that Canada competed in, five placed among the top eight including:
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Bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Whitby, ON in the 100 metre hurdles.
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Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, BC finished 4th overall in shot put setting a new Canadian Record along the way. Armstrong missed the podium by 1 centimetre.
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Victoria, BC’s 800 metre runner Gary Reed finished 4th.
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Jessica Zelinka of London, ON took fifth place with a new Canadian record in the heptathlon.
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The men’s 4x100 metre relay team set a seasonal best finishing 6th overall. Hank Palmer of Pierrefonds, QC started the race and passed the baton to Anson Henry of Pickering, ON followed by Jared Connaughton of New Haven, PEI and finally to anchor Pierre Browne of Toronto, ON.
There were also eight athletes who placed among the top 12 and 11 who finished in the top 16. Scott Russell of Windsor, ON and Tabia Charles of Pickering, ON both finished 10th in the javelin throw and long jump respectively. Jim Steacy of Lethbridge, AB was the youngest hammer thrower to qualify for the final and finished in 12th place. Jared Connaughton, Megan Metcalfe and Nathan Brannen all placed 14th, 15th and 16th respectively with Metcalfe setting a new personal best.
Athletics Showing - Seasonal versus Olympic Performances
|
Name |
Event |
Hometown |
Pre-Beijing Seasonal Best |
Best Olympic Performance |
|
Ruky ABDULAI |
Long Jump |
Coquitlam, BC |
6.72m |
6.41m |
|
Dylan ARMSTRONG |
Shot Put |
Kamloops, BC |
20.92m |
21.04m CR |
|
Brian BARNETT |
200m |
Edmonton, AB |
20.48 |
DNF |
|
Tim BERRETT |
50km Racewalk |
Edmonton, AB |
3:52:41 |
4:08:18 |
|
Massimo BERTOCCHI |
Decathlon |
Tottenham, ON |
8014pts |
7714pts |
|
Nathan BRANNEN |
1500m |
Cambridge, ON |
3:34.65 |
3:39.10 |
|
Pierre BROWNE |
100m |
Toronto, ON |
10.19 |
10.22 |
|
Tabia CHARLES |
Long Jump |
Pickering, ON |
6.82m |
6.62m |
|
Tyler CHRISTOPHER |
400m |
Edmonton, AB |
44.71 |
45.67 |
|
Jared CONNAUGHTON |
200m |
New Haven, PEI |
20.34 |
20.45 |
|
Nicole FORRESTER |
High Jump |
Aurora, ON |
1.95m |
1.89m |
|
Sultana FRIZELL |
Hammer |
Perth, ON |
70.94m |
65.44m |
|
Eric GILLIS |
10000m |
Antigonish, NS |
28:07.2 |
29:08.1 |
|
Kelsie HENDRY |
Pole Vault |
Saskatoon, SK |
4.55m |
4.30m |
|
Anson HENRY |
100m |
Pickering, ON |
10.23 |
10.33 |
|
Priscilla LOPES-SCHLIEP |
100m Hurdles |
Whitby, ON |
12.61 |
12.64 |
|
Mike MASON |
High Jump |
Nanoose Bay, BC |
2.27m |
2.25m |
|
Megan METCALFE |
5000m |
Edmonton, AB |
15:19.7 |
15:11.23 PB |
|
Taylor MILNE |
1500m |
Guelph, ON |
3:36.00 |
3:41.56 |
|
Carline MUIR |
400m |
Weston, ON |
51.73 |
51.55 PB |
|
Adrienne POWER |
200m |
Halifax, NS |
22.86 |
23.40 |
|
Gary REED |
800m |
Victoria, BC |
1:43.68 |
1:44.94 |
|
Scott RUSSELL |
Javelin |
Windsor, ON |
83.20m |
80.90m |
|
Jim STEACY |
Hammer |
Lethbridge, ON |
79.13m |
76.32m |
|
Kevin SULLIVAN |
1500m
5000m |
Brantford, ON |
3:35.78
14:09.16 |
3:36.05
14:09.16 |
|
Achraf TADILI |
800m |
Laval, QC |
1:45.29 |
1:48.87 |
|
Angela WHYTE |
100m Hurdles |
Edmonton, AB |
12.96 |
13.11 |
|
Jessica ZELINKA |
Heptathlon |
London, ON |
6034pts |
6490pts CR |
|
RELAY TEAM
- Hank Palmer
- Anson Henry
- Jared Connaughton
- Pierre Browne |
4x100m |
Pierrefonds, QC
Pickering, ON
New Haven, PEI
Toronto, ON
|
38.72 |
38.66 SB |
The top three countries in Athletics at the 2008 Olympic Games were the United States with 207 points, Russia with 200 points and Kenya with 135 points.
-AC-
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