This past weekend Athletics Ontario hosted the Ontario U20, Open, and Para championships at Toronto Track and Field Centre. Although the weather was on and off rain throughout the weekend, it did not stop athletes from competing with pure passion and spectators showing support for them. We had special guests make an appearance, such as Olympian Kate Van Buskirk, who did a wonderful job commentating at Sunday’s events. This weekend would not be possible without the tremendous staff, officials, coaches, and volunteers who did an outstanding job facilitating the event to ensure everything ran smoothly. With that being said, this weekend, we saw amazing performances by several athletes which will be highlighted in this article.
With Friday being the event’s opening day, it was a beautiful day for track and field. It started with the Women’s Open high jump, in which Barbara Bitchoka finished first with a jump of 1.83m. In the U20 Women’s high jump Laurie Boisvert from Adrenaline Track Club finished in first place with a jump of 1.70m. Although Friday was the shortest of all the days, the crowd was filled with excitement and energy; in part due to our fantastic DJ who catered music to fit the atmosphere keeping athletes hyped up. Friday finished up with the women’s and men’s 5000m run as well as the 400m Prelims for men and women.
Saturday was jam-packed full of exciting events such as the 100m; it was indeed a great day to tune in to events. It was an honour to have Mike Sherar commentate for the livestream; he did an outstanding job and even managed to kill it in the 800m Open on Sunday. Mike’s daughter Zoe who belongs to the Royal City Track Club, participated in the 400m open dash, finishing in 1st place with an impressive time of 52.40. The race was a tight one and Zoe was able to have a huge finish down the stretch to take it. Definitely worth watching back, find the link to our Day 2 livestream below. Two-time Olympian Brittany Crew won the women’s 4.00kg shot put open with a throw of 16.81m. Logan Spicer, whom we told you to keep an eye out for in our previous article, finished 1st in Ontario for the men’s U20 long jump; he also participated in the 100m dash and made it to the finals, where he finished in 7th. The men’s 100m was undoubtedly one of Saturday’s most highly anticipated events, featuring top sprinters going head to head; one athlete that rose to the top was Almond Small.
Small, who is part of the Flying Angels Track Club, was also featured in our athletes to watch out for, and he surely did not disappoint! Small finished 1st in his heat in the 100m prelims with a time of 10.56 and ended up winning the event in the finals with a time of 10.60. Small went on to dominate the U20 200m prelims, advancing to the finals, where he again took home gold, finishing with a time of 21.14. Small was also part of the Flying Angels 4×100 U20 relay winning team making him the winner of all major sprint events. Small’s standout performance this weekend should give him a well-deserved confidence boost for future events he may compete in this summer. Saturday also involved some great para events such as the 100m dash wheelchair in which Tai Young finished in 1st place with a time of 19.40, with Hudson Booth following shortly after with a time of 26.86.
Although it rained heavily in the morning during the men’s and women’s 5000m racewalk, the weather eventually lightened up, making it a bright and sunny day. With events starting to wrap up, medal ceremonies commenced. The medals were handed out by a variety of special guests such as Athletics Ontario CEO Paul Osland, former member of the Canadian National Team at the 1988 Olympics and Bill Crothers, a retired athlete who holds several Canadian records in running . Commentating Sunday’s livestream was Kate Van Buskirk, a talented Ontario-born runner who has competed in several competitions including the 5000m at the summer 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. In the U20 800m, we saw the Coles brothers from London Western finish 1st and 2nd place, with Aidan finishing with a 1:51.71 and Tristan shortly after with 1:51.97. This weekend proves that despite the challenges of the pandemic, athletes are still eager to compete. With an amazing turnout by fans and outstanding performances by athletes, we can expect to see many more exciting track and field events this summer! Linked below are the results and a link to all three days of the Livestream. Look out for our next pre event article regarding the “ Canada Summer Games Trials for team Ontario”
DAY 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYq3GNuR30
DAY 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNiyWVHUlUk&t=20850s
DAY 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cgGeOlVdqs&t=7793s
Results:
Canada Summer Games Trials for Team Ontario
https://athleticsontario.ca/event/canada-summer-games-trials/
