Audrey Leduc sprints to 100m national record in Olympic debut
Leduc ran a personal best of 10.95 seconds to win her 100m heat and qualify for Saturday's semi-final
Photo by:
Nick Iwanyshyn
The fairytale season for Canada’s Audrey Leduc continued on Friday morning at the Stade de France in Paris. Leduc ran to a national record of 10.95 seconds in the heats of the women’s 100m, lowering her previous best by a hundredth of a second.
She won her 100m heat in her Olympic debut, qualifying her for tomorrow’s 100m semi-final.
In a post-race interview with Canadian Running, Leduc said she knew she was in personal best shape. “I wanted a personal best today–I just kept telling myself to focus on my lane.”
Even though this was her debut on the world’s biggest stage, Leduc says her experience at the London Diamond League two weeks ago prepared her for this. “I wasn’t too nervous, but I wanted to take everything in,” says Leduc.
Her previous 100m best of 10.96 seconds was set in April at the LSU Alumni meet in Baton Rouge, La. She will compete again on Saturday evening in the French capital in the women’s 100m semi-final. It goes on at 7:50 p.m. local (1:50 p.m. ET), with the final running later in the session.
Canada’s fastest sprinter Audrey Leduc’s unconventional path to the Olympics
Athletics events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are taking place from Aug. 1-11. Today’s coverage is brought to you by Canadian Running and New Balance Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.
