Kelowna track and field star John Gay has set a championship record in Montreal – Sports – Castanet.net
UPDATE: 9:36 p.m.
Kelowna track and field runner John Gay has set a championship record in Montreal.
The Championship record was 8:25.82, but Gay, Canada’s top men’s steeplechase runner, beat the record with an impressive 8:20.68 finish in the 3,000 metre event on Friday evening.
The Olympic and Paralympic Canadian track and field teams are expected to be named next Friday.
John Gay! Olympic standard! Watch him cross the finish line into men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase history! pic.twitter.com/iDI9Y96K1A
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) June 26, 2021
ORIGINAL: 1:54 p.m.
Kelowna’s Olympic contingent could grow by two following this weekend’s Olympic and Paralympic Track and Field Trials.
Local runners Jerome Blake and John Gay are both in Montreal, hoping to secure a berth in next month’s Tokyo Olympics.
Blake, a short-distance specialist, has already competed in the first of his two events, finishing second in the men’s 100 metre final.
His time, 10.27 seconds, was 15-100ths behind race winner Aaron Brown.
Andre De Grasse, who is already guaranteed a spot on the team, did not compete.
Blake will run in the 200 metre final Saturday morning.
Gay meantime is Canada’s top men’s steeplechase runner.
He’ll run in the 3,000 metre event Friday night. His best time this year is two seconds better than the Canadian record in the distance.
The Canadian track and field team for both the Olympics and Paralympics are expected to be named next Friday.
Kelowna marathon runner Malindi Elmore has already been named to the Olympic team as has Kelowna swimmer Kierra Smith and Kelowna-born Taylor Ruck.