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Athletics Canada selects 2019 World Championship team

49 athletes named to team Canada for the upcoming Doha World Championships

Athletics Canada has announced its selections for the 2019 World Championships in Doha. AC followed its selection criteria very closely and sent up to three athletes in every event where runners had standard. Of the 49 athletes named to the team, 11 are ranked in the top ten by the IAAF.

RELATED: Why Gabriela DeBues-Stafford has a real shot at winning Worlds

The marathoners who achieved World standard had to make a difficult decision: they had to choose between the Canadian Olympic Marathon Trials and Worlds. In the women’s marathon there were nine Canadians who achieved the IAAF World Standard, which was more than any other event (men or women). Of those nine women, four of the top five opted out of the World Championships, with Lyndsay Tessier being the only runner to declare.

Tessier was named to the team back in June–Sasha Gollish and Melanie Myrand were both named today. Malindi Elmore, Leslie Sexton and Kinsey Middleton (who were ranked ahead of Gollish and Myrand) all opted out of Worlds to vie for their spot on the Canadian Olympic team this October at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. STWM will double as the Canadian Olympic Marathon Trials.

Lyndsay Tessier at Spring Run-off 2019. Photo: Maxine Gravina

The Olympic criteria for the marathon are as follows: “The first 10 runners in the Men’s Marathon and in the Women’s Marathon in the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 and the top 5 finishers at the IAAF Gold Label Marathons and the top 10 finishers at the Marathon Major Series (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York) held during the qualification period will also be considered as having achieved the Qualification Standard.” Rachel Cliff is the only Canadian woman with Olympic standard thus far. She also opted out of the World Championship marathon.

This isn’t to say that Gollish, Tessier and Myrand can’t compete for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team, it just means that they won’t be given an automatic spot on the team as a result of winning the Canadian Championships this October.

On the men’s side, both Cam Levins and Tristan Woodfine also achieved standard but opted for the Olympic Trials over Worlds. John Mason had already been named to the team and Berhanu Degefa is the latest addition in the men’s marathon.

RELATED: Melissa Bishop-Nriagu shuts down 2019 season

Canadian 800m record holder and 2015 silver medallist Melissa Bishop-Nriagu was not named to the team. Unfortunately, Bishop-Nriagu is dealing with a small tear in her Achilles where the soleus and tendon meet and had to cut her season short. The 800m runner was unable to achieve standard within Athletics Canada’s window, but her goal remains to qualify for the Olympics next year in Tokyo.

The 2019 Canadian World Championship team

Mohammed Ahmed – 5000m, 10,000m
Marco Arop – 800m
Maria Bernard – 3000m steeplechase
Mathieu Bilodeau – 50km race walk
Jerome Blake – 4x100m relay
Bismark Boateng – 4x100m relay
Aaron Brown – 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay
Alicia Brown – 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Lindsey Butterworth – 800m
Austin Cole – 4x400m relay
Brittany Crew – shot put
Gabriela DeBues-Stafford – 1500m, 5000m
Berhanu Degefa – marathon
Andre De Grasse – 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay
Evan Dunfee – 20km race walk, 50km race walk
Crystal Emmanuel – 100m, 200m
John Gay – 3000m steeplechase
Phylicia George – 100m hurdles
Liz Gleadle – javelin
Sasha Gollish – marathon
Matthew Hughes – 3000m steeplechase
Justyn Knight – 5000m
Genevi̬ve Lalonde Р3000m steeplechase
Pierce LePage – decathlon
Django Lovett – high jump
John Mason – marathon
Michael Mason – high jump
Brandon McBride – 800m
Sarah Mitton – shot put
Melanie Myrand – marathon
Tim Nedow – shot put
Alysha Newman – pole vault
Jessica O’Connell – 5000m
Philip Osei – 400m, Mixed 4x400m relay
Madeline Price – 400m, 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Brendon Rodney – 200m, 4x100m relay
Rachel Seaman – 20km race walk
Andrea Seccafien – 5000m
Ryan Smeeton – 3000m steeplechase
Gavin Smellie – 4x100m relay
Maya Stephens – 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Aiyanna Stiverne – 400m, 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Katherine-Jessica Surin – 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Lyndsay Tessier – marathon
Graeme Thompson – 4x400m relay
Damian Warner – decathlon
Sage Watson – 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay / Mixed 4x400m relay
Natasha Wodak – 10,000m
Regan Yee – 3000m steeplechase

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