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Gabriela DeBues-Stafford wins her fourth straight national 1,500m title

After opening up a huge gap between herself and second-place Jenna Westaway in the final metres, Debues-Stafford impresses the crowd further with her fluent French

Gabriela Debues-Stafford, who set a new Canadian record over 1,500m at the London Diamond League earlier this month (her fifth national record this year), dominated her fourth straight national 1,500m championship in Montreal with a massive kick this afternoon, and followed it up with a trackside interview in both official languages.

Debues-Stafford’s winning time was 4:09.09. Jenna Westaway, Canadian indoor 800m champion and 1K Canadian record-holder, who had already competed in the 800m heats and finals this weekend, finished second in 4:12.54. Mariah Kelly of Athletics Niagara was third in 4:12.68.

RELATED: Gabriela DeBues-Stafford sets fifth Canadian record of 2019

Debues-Stafford and her younger sister, Lucia Stafford, went to the front early in the race, going through the first lap in a fairly quick 65 seconds. Steeplechase champion Gen Lalonde was also in the mix, with Westaway moving up to join the leaders. Debues-Stafford started to pull away just before the bell after a much slower 70-second lap two, pouring on a huge kick in the final straight.

RELATED: Gen Lalonde wins national steeplechase title in new meet record

Aaron Brown, after winning the 100m title on Friday evening, followed it up with his second consecutive national championship in the 200m this morning. Brown ran 20.03s, with meet record-holder Brendan Rodney finishing a very close second in 20.50 and Jerome Blake of Coquitlam, BC third in 20.57. (Canadian record-holder Andre De Grasse did not race.) Brown has now qualified for world championships in both distances.

RELATED: De Grasse and Bishop-Nriagu settle for second at Canadian Track Nationals

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