Perdita Felicien beats Angela Whyte and Priscilla Lopes at the 2006 Canadian Champs (© c)
The 2007 RBC Canadian Track and Field Championships kick-off this week in Windsor, Ontario (12 – 15 July) at the University of Windsor Stadium.
The Championships serve as the Canadian selection trials for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan (25 Aug to 2 Sep).
The marquee event of the championships will be the women’s 100m Hurdles which will feature 2003 World outdoor and indoor champion Perdita Felicien, Angela Whyte and Priscilla Lopes who finished one, two, and three respectively at the 2006 national championships.
Of the three, Whyte owns the fastest time in 2007 with a mark of 12.63 recorded in Carson, California. Felicien is second fastest with 12.75 recorded in Kingston, Jamaica with Lopes not far behind at 12.82 which she ran in Rio de Janeiro.
2005 World Championship 400m bronze medalist Tyler Christopher will be on hand to defend his national title as he gears up for Osaka in the hopes of improving his medal to silver or gold.
The women’s 1500m will be decided between Malindi Elmore (4:05.65), Hilary Stellingwerff (4:05.69) and Carmen Douma-Hussar (4:05.91) which to this point have all have run very comparable seasonal bests.
The husband and wife team of Jason and Lieja Tunks will look to capture both the men’s and women’s Discus Throw titles. Lieja will also compete in the women’s Shot Put.
A number of recent Canadian record breakers will compete in Windsor as favourites in their events:
Adam Kunkel is set to repeat in the men’s 400m Hurdles. Kunkel broke the Canadian record on three occasions in 2006 and opened the 2007 season with a win in Luzern, Switzerland in a time of 48.84.
Gary Reed is favoured to take the men’s 800m. Reed ran a personal best and new Canadian record of 1:43.93 in Italy in 2006. Reed will be challenged by Achraf Tadili who is the reigning champion and is the silver medalist from the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
James Steacy broke the Canadian record twice in 2006 and on three more occasions in 2007. He is the heavy favourite in the men’s Hammer Throw.
Mathieu Gentès for the IAAF
Click here for Schedule, Start Lists and Results
