Pan Am Games: July 21 evening session

Canada cleaned up in the distance events on Tuesday evening with two golds and a silver.

The story on first day of track action at the Pan Am Games was the gold-silver combo by the Canadian Matt Hughes and his compatriot Alex Genest in the 3,000m steeplechase, followed an hour later by the gold medal-winning kick by Mohammed Ahmed in the 10,000m

Hughes, though he didn’t take the lead until late in the race, was comfortably in control the entire time before moving into first with two laps remaining. The Canadian record-holder easily ran away from the field on the final lap, finishing in a modest 8:32.18, though Genest was closing hard.

“It’s something that you kind of dream about growing up, winning on the Olympic stage or the world stage of the Pan Am Stage,” said Hughes about draping the Canadian flag over his shoulders.

“When I made my move with 500m to go, all those people screaming down the back straight, it’s hard to hear yourself think but it was hard not to think about winning the race at that point.”

Going into the final lap, it seemed Genest would finish third, but he closed the large gap on American Cory Leslie, passing him coming into he final 100m metres to claim second in 8:33.83.

“Everyone was there cheering so loud, and having the top two Canadians was so special that I made it happen,” said Genest about mustering the kick to move into second. “When I passed him over the water jump I knew he wasn’t coming back.”

The two celebrated together, Hughes at one point jumping into the crowd. The two will compete together again in a month at the world championships in Beijing.

Ahmed ran with a lead pack most of the race until kicking into the final two laps, seemingly going to early. Looking as though out of gas with 300m left, he was passed, only to kick home again, winning in 28:49.96.

BREAKING: Canadian Mohammed Ahmed wins gold in the men’s 10,000m #CBCPanAm http://t.co/WqGB159G2q

— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) July 22, 2015

Both Jessica Smith and Melissa Bishop advanced to the women’s 800m final on Wednesday evening. Smith ran 2:03.34 to finish third in the first heat, followed by Bishop’s 2:04.51 run for second in the second heat.

“[The final] is just going to be another race. I’m healthy and there’s great competitors,” said Bishop after her run, noting she’s back in shape after injury and holds the goal of winning a medal in the final.

To end off the night, Nikkita Holder ran a season’s best 12.85 to finished third in the women’s 100m hurdles.

In total, Canada brought home eight medals on the day at the track and field events.