Lucia Stafford ready for her Diamond League debut in Monaco
Stafford is one of four Olympic-bound Canadians taking on incredibly talented fields on the international stage on Friday
Photo by:
Sean Burges/Mondo Sport Images
Two weeks before Toronto’s Lucia Stafford‘s second Olympic Games, the Canadian middle-distance runner will make her long-awaited Diamond League debut in Monaco on Friday. The 25-year-old will compete against some of the top female middle-distance runners in the world as a prep for the Paris Olympics.
Stafford has had her sights set on competing in a Diamond League event since reaching the 1,500m semi-final at the Tokyo Olympics. “It’s been a frustrating and political process, and sometimes it comes down to luck and who you know,” she says. Confident that she belonged on that start line, Stafford kept working hard and remained patient while waiting for her chance to take the big stage.
She was hoping to race the 1,500m (the event she’ll be racing at the Games, in which she’s eager to try to break the four-minute barrier), but she will be running in the less-recognized 2,000m distance in Monaco–an event she says she’s completely unfamiliar with.
“At first I was bummed when I found out it was an off-distance, because I wanted an opportunity for a fast 1,500,” says Stafford. “Now I think, what better opportunity to rip off the bandaid at my first Diamond league, than with an event I know nothing about?”
The Louis II Stadium of Monaco will see some of the world’s most elite track and field athletes competing across 14 different disciplines, fighting for the bragging rights of a Diamond League win–and USD $30,000.
The Canadian record for the 2,000m distance, set by Angela Chalmers at 5:34.49 in 1994, has stood since before Stafford was born. “I won’t be thinking about the Canadian record during the race, because I don’t like to constrict myself to rigid goals in a performance. But if I can move these legs as fast as I know I can, then you bet that record is definitely in trouble!” says Stafford, who currently holds the North American indoor record for half the distance.
Who will be there?
Jessica Hull, an Australian middle-distance runner with numerous national and Oceanian records to her name, will be among the elites in the 2,000m race. The 27-year-old posted the fifth-fastest women’s 1,500m time ever just two days ago–recording a five-second personal best in 3:50.83.
USA’s Sinclaire Johnson and Cory Ann McGee, both just barely missing qualification for Paris in the highly competitive U.S. Olympic Trials last weekend, will also be chasing fast times. Stafford, used to competing relatively solo in Canada, will surely benefit from the opportunity to fit into the train of racers and do what she does best: race.
The Toronto native won’t be the only Canadian travelling overseas to Monaco. Diamond League veterans Alysha Newman (a two-time Olympian in the women’s pole vault) and Marco Arop, the reigning world champion in the men’s 800m, will also be looking forward to being immersed in an elite field. 19-year-old Christopher Morales-Williams will make his Diamond League debut and an exciting professional debut in the men’s 400m.
How to watch
The event will be livestreamed on CBC Sports on Friday, beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Results from the competition can be found here.
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