Day Three recap: Canadian trio miss 1,500m finals

After a crazy few hours for Team Canada in the Day Three morning session, the Canadian trio of Cameron Proceviat, William Paulson and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot were on the track in the evening session in hopes of qualifying for the men’s 1,500m final. Philibert-Thiboutot found himself in a loaded semi-final that came down to a tactical affair, only missing auto-qualification for the final by eight one-hundreds of a second.

Philibert-Thiboutot found himself boxed in with one lap to go, but found himself a lane to make a move after a short gap opened up. The 31-year-old from Quebec City was in the fourth position qualify with 50 metres to go, but ultimately tied up, finishing seventh in 3:37.29. “That’s 1,500m running,” Philibert-Thiboutot says. “It comes down to the smallest of margins.”

The two-time world 1,500m indoor champion, Samuel Tefera, also failed to qualify out of a loaded first heat in the semi-final, which featured the Olympic champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot and bronze medallist Josh Kerr of Team GB.

Paulson and Proceviat were in semi-final heat two, but after the first race was tactical, they both knew the race would have to be quick. The two Canadian men settled in at the back on the first lap, but after Kenyan athlete Kumari Taki fell around 450 metres, a gap began to open up, with the two Canadians falling back. Proceviat finished ninth in 3:38.83, while Paulson wound up 11th in 3:40.41.

“I expected a bit more from myself today, but I just didn’t have it,” says Paulson.

Proceviat, who was the final fastest qualifier from the first round of heats, says he is grateful to be there and will learn from this experience.

Cameron Proceviat and William Paulson are 9th and 11th in semi-final #2.

All three Canadian men will miss out on the 1,500m final.#WCHOregon22 #TeamCanada

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) July 18, 2022

The two favourites out of the men’s 110mH final seconds before the race

The 110mH Olympic champion, Hansle Parchment of Jamaica, pulled his hamstring during a pre-race stride only seconds before the start of the 110mH final. After a few stretches, he determined that he was physically unfit to race, and pulled out of the competition. Moments later, hometown favourite Devon Allen had a false start, and was disqualified, much to the consternation of the fans.

Now the race was missing two of the three medal contenders, which opened up the field for an unlikely bronze medallist from Spain, Asier Martinez. U.S. athlete Grant Holloway won the gold in 13.03 seconds, while his compatriot Trey Cunningham finished second for silver in 13.08.

Many American athletes took to social media to give their two cents on the decision to disqualify Allen, despite a 0.099 reaction time. (The rules require officials to abide by the evidence provided by the technology for detecting false starts.)

The 2022 World Athletics Championships are taking place from July 15-25 from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.