No medals for Canada at 2017 IAAF World Championships

Embed from Getty Images

Canada will return from the 2017 IAAF World Championships empty-handed when it comes to medals won.

As action concluded on Aug. 13, Canada was unable to finish in the top-three in an event in London. The last time Canada was unable to tally a medal at the IAAF World Championships was 2001, when Edmonton hosted the global event.

The best finish came in the men’s decathlon and women’s 800m. Melissa Bishop and Damian Warner, who battled illness in the leadup to the 10-discipline event, both placed fifth.

There are two primary standings to look at when it comes to performances at the IAAF World Championships. The first is simple: the medal table. The second is the points table, which takes into account finishes first through eighth with a cumulative score used as the ranking. As Canada had numerous athletes place in the top-eight, the nation finished well amongst the world athletics powerhouses like the United States.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXjNF-NAfSX/

Canadian athletes had two fifth-place finishes, five sixth-place finishes, two seventh-place finishes and three eighth-place finishes, a cumulative score that ranks them in the top-15 in the world. That’s a total of 12 top-eight finishes, which is one shy of Canada’s tally from the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to Athletics Canada. The 12 top-eight finishes places Canada 15th overall. (See final points table here and final medal table here.)

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

In the medal table, there were 43 countries with a podium finish. Lesser-known track and field nations with a medal include Burundi, Syria, Qatar, Tanzania as well as a team known as “Authorized Neutral Athletes,” made up of Russians who were cleared to compete even though the country’s athletics federation is suspended from international athletics because of state-sponsored doping.

The United States won the most medals of any nation, tallying 30 from the 10-day Aug. 4-13 championships. The next IAAF World Championships will be held in Doha, Qatar Sept. 25 to Oct. 6, 2019.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXojSKkg5ZJ/

The norovirus outbreak in London affected a number of Canadians, which may have played a role in performances. Andre De Grasse, who was entered in three events originally, withdrew from the IAAF World Championships a few weeks ago because of a torn hamstring.

Canadian top-eight finishes in London