Weekend Recap: Canadian championships

Very fast and very slow can describe the Canadian track and field championships over the weekend, giving fans everything from stunning sprint performances to tactical middle-distance races.

De Grasse run sub-10 championship 100m

Canada’s newest sprint sensation, Andre Dr Grasse, continued his win streak over the weekend, taking the Canadian 100m title in 9.96. The mark is the first sub-10 performance on Canadian soil since the 2001 world championships in Edmonton, a history which includes an appearance by Usain Bolt only months before his 9.58 world record run in 2009.

The championships also saw one notably slow race. The men’s 1,500m was won by Thomas Riva, breaking Nate Brannen’s four-year title streak. The race was very tactical (read: slow), and Riva won in a strong finishing kick, running 4:06:16.

The women’s 1,500m was won by Nicole Sifuentes, her second title of the meet after also winning the 5,000m.

The 800m race were also tactical, seeing Corey Bellemore win the men’s in 1:51:70. Fiona Benson won the women’s race in 2:08:52.

The meet was used as a trials for the upcoming world championships in Beijing.

Full results can be found here.

Pairs Diamond League impresses

The Diamond League continued in Paris on Saturday evening, one of the highlights being US steeplechase runner Evan Jager’s 8:00.45 American record in the event after falling over the final barrier. Jager finished second to Jairus Kipchoge Birech after falling, but the time shows he’s a likely threat to breakup the Kenyan dominance in the event in recent years.

The meet also showcased a meet record 14:15:41 by Ethiopia’s Genezebe Dibaba over 5,000m and a men’s 1,500m race that saw the 11 fastest times of the year at the distance. The top eight runners ran under 3:32 with Silas Kiplagat winning in 3:30.12.

Kilian Jornet breaks Mount Marathon record

Spanish ultrarunner Kilian Jornet took on the Alaskan Mount Marathon 5K race and won in a new record time 41:48. The race runs up the mountain and back down through some of the toughest terrain in any race.

Swedish runner Emelie Forsberg won the women’s race in record time also, racing to a 47:48.

Jornet will race the Hardrock 100 on Thursday.