Canadian Athletics Preview 2024 Olympics

Of Canada’s 24 medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, one quarter of the total medals came in athletics. The two gold medalists were Damian Warner of London, Ontario in the men’s decathlon, and Andre de Grasse of Scarborough, Ontario in the men’s 200 metres.

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the possibility that Warner will defend his Olympic gold medal in the decathlon improved, as reigning world decathlon champion Pierce Lepage of Whitby, Ontario, Canada withdrew from the Olympic Games due to a herniated disc in his back. Warner was the silver medalist in Budapest last year as he had 8804 total points. Now Warner’s biggest rivals appear to be Grenada’s Lindon Victor, the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and reigning World Championship bronze medalist, as well as France’s Kevin Mayer of France. Mayer has won two gold medals at the World Championships (2017 and 2022), and silver at the last two Olympic Games. The men’s decathlon starts on August 2 at 2am MT.

Canada also has two great chances for medals this time around in the hammer throw. Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, British Columbia is the reigning world champion in the men’s event, and Camryn Rogers of Richmond, British Columbia is the reigning world champion in the women’s event. Meanwhile, in another throwing discipline, Sarah Mitton of Liverpool, Nova Scotia is ranked second in the world in the women’s shot put. The men’s hammer throw final is August 4 at 12:30 PM MT, the women’s hammer throw final is August 6 at 12 PM MT, and the women’s shot put final is August 9 at 11:40 AM MT.

This past weekend, Alysha Newman of London, Ontario, finished second in the Diamond League event in London, England. This was Newman’s first Diamond League medal in five years, but the silver medal was significant because it came against an elite field. The women’s pole vault final will take place on August 7 at 11 AM MT.

There are a few other medal possibilities in athletics from a Canadian standpoint. Marco Arop of Edmonton, Alberta is the reigning world champion in the men’s 800 metres (final is August 10 at 11:25 AM MT), Andre de Grasse of Scarborough, Ontario is a contender and former Olympic medalist in the men’s 100 metres (final is August 4 at 1:55 PM MT), and men’s 200 metres (final is August 8 at 12:30 PM MT), reigning NCAA champion Christopher Morales Williams is a contender in the men’s 400 metres (final is August 7 at 1:20 PM MT),  middle distance runner Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ontario is a contender in the men’s 5000 metres (final is August 10 at 12 PM MT), and the men’s 10 000 metres (final is August 2 at 1:20 PM MT), Olympic bronze medalist Evan Dunfee of Richmond, British Columbia is a medal contender in the men’s 20 kilometre walk (final is July 31 at 11:30 PM MT), and Team Canada is the world champion in the men’s 4×100 metre relay (final is August 9 at 11:45 AM MT).