Fifty-nine track and field athletes, the most Canada has sent to a World Athletics Championships, will try to top the six medals the 2023 team earned in Budapest, Hungary.
Competition began Friday evening and continues through Sept. 21 in Tokyo. Watch all the action on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, and click here for the full broadcast details.
Canada has sent four defending champions for the first time in world championship history: Hammer throwers Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers, 800-metre runner Marco Arop and decathlete Pierce LePage.
Athletics Canada also named four athletes in an individual event, also a first, in the men’s 800.
Visit here each day for details on the notable events featuring Canadian athletes, including the time of their competition and brief summary of their season.
Men’s 400 metres, heat 6 — 6:15 a.m. ET
Christopher Morales Williams has shown glimpses recently of his form from early last season when he ran a Canadian record 44.05 seconds. Twice in his past four races, the 21-year-old has dipped under 45 seconds, including a 44.85 season best on July 13 at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational. Morales Williams also won his third consecutive Canadian title at the senior level on Aug. 1.
WATCH | Morales Williams 3rd at Ostrava Golden Spike in June:
Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams runs to a 3rd place finish at Golden Spike in Ostrava
Women’s 400, heat 1 — 6:25 a.m. ET
Lauren Gale will be looking to build on her 2022 worlds debut when she didn’t advance to the semifinals. She was fourth at the Canadian championships on Aug. 1 in Ottawa, where she clocked 51.80 seconds. Her season best is 51.00, a noticeable improvement from her up-and-down experience at her first Olympics last summer in Paris.
Women’s 100 semifinal, heat 3 — 7:34 a.m. ET
Audrey Leduc, the lone Canadian in the semifinals, finished third in her heat to qualify and her time of 11.26 ranked 24th of the 24 sprinters advancing. The Gatineau, Que., athlete stopped the clock in 11.06 on Aug. 1 for her second Canadian title in a row. Leduc lowered her national record to 10.94 in Edmonton on July 13.
WATCH | Leduc places 3rd in heat to clinch semifinal berth:
Canada’s Audrey Leduc qualifies for 100m semis at World Athletics Championships
Men’s 100 semifinal, heat 1 — 7:45 a.m. ET
All three Canadian 100 runners on the team will appear in the semifinals. Ottawa’s Eliezer Adjibi went 10.19 to finish a distance second to Jamaican and gold medal favourite Kishane Thompson (9.95). Adjibi’s PB is 10.02.
Heat 2 — 7:52 a.m. ET
Jerome Blake clocked 10.05 for second behind Kenny Bednarek (10.01) in the fourth of seven heats. The 30-year-old Blake lowered his personal best to 9.95 at the NACAC championships last month in the Bahamas.
Heat 3 — 7:59 a.m. ET
Andre De Grasse looked recovered from a hamstring issue earlier in the summer and ran 10.16, 1-100th of a second off his season best. However, he has yet to run under 10 seconds in six races this year, including heats, but the Markham, Ont., sprinter and seven-time Olympic medallist has a knack for standing out when it matters most.
WATCH | De Grasse looks healthy in 10.16-second heat:
Andre De Grasse races to a qualifying time and reaches the 100m semifinals in Tokyo
Women’s 1,500 semifinal, heat 2 — 8:17 a.m. ET
On her 30th birthday, DeBues-Stafford was fourth of the six athletes advancing from her heat on Saturday. Her time of four minutes two seconds trailed only her 4:01.19 season best and matched her effort from the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland on June 17.
“I ran like a head-less chicken out there today but the fitness gains over the last month let [me] do that and not pay the price,” the Toronto native said on Instagram.
All but one of DeBues-Stafford’s 11 competitors in her semifinal heat have run under four minutes this season. Her 3:56.12 PB is from 2019. DeBues-Stafford returned this year after battling injuries much of the past two seasons.
Men’s 10,000-metre final — 8:30 a.m. ET
Moh Ahmed will be seeking his first world championship medal since his 2019 bronze in the 5,000, having finished off the podium in both distances at worlds in 2022 and 2023.
In the Olympic 10,000 final last Aug. 2, Ahmed worked his way to second spot 100 metres from the finish line but within seconds two runners blew by him. The Canadian placed fourth in 26 minutes 43.79 seconds, 34-100ths slower than the bronze medallist.
