Guelph welcomes first-ever Canadian Track and Field Centre of Excellence

Athletics Canada, the University of Guelph and Speed River Track Club announced their partnership on Thursday to form the first-ever Canadian Centre of Excellence. 

The Centre of Excellence is part of Athletics Canada’s plan to set up multiple track and field training hubs across the country. The centre will provide athletes with: multiple coaches across a range of events, appropriate training facilities for all events, local access to necessary medical services, a focus on high performance outcomes. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bls7auPlz8t/?hl=en&taken-by=speedrivertfc

Athletics Canada’s high performance director Simon Nathan reportedly said, “The centre (Guelph) has a rich history of producing elite-level athletes who have had success on the world stage, and we fully anticipate that trend to continue with the coaching team that’s in place combined with the resources made available to athletes at every level of the sport.” 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk55V_Bn-g4/?hl=en&taken-by=lalongen7

Geneviève Lalonde is one of those elite-level athletes. The 2016 Olympian is excited for the partnership. “I think it’s great news, it solidifies the existing relationship between the university and Speed River as well as Athletics Canada. Guelph is unique in what it has to offer and I think being named as a centre for excellence demonstrates that.”

For Lalonde, the shift won’t have much of a day-to-day effect. “I’ve been with Speed River for nine years now, and I’ve seen it evolve quite a bit.”

RELATED: Geneviève Lalonde’s race that changed everything

The steeplechaser says this partnership highlights that great things that are happening at Guelph already. 

Canadian the track scene is growing, and this partnership is an example of that. Canadian track events, like USports, are becoming more and more competitive, a larger number of runners in all events are competing well on the world stage, and interest in the sport seems to be on the rise. With the eventual roll-out of multiple Centre’s of Excellence, Canada’s best runners will have access places where they can gather, train, and improve together.