A big Team Canada athletics team seeks a big medal haul at Paris 2024
Team Canada’s athletics contingent for Paris 2024 is absolutely stacked with talent. The team features 48 athletes, including 22 returning Olympic team members and 26 athletes making their Olympic debut.
Coming off of a historic performance at the 2023 World Athletics Championships that saw four Canadians become world champions, another two on the podium, and seven more finish in the top-10 of their events, Paris 2024 could be the best Olympic Games in many decades for Canadian track and field athletes.
A significant part of that momentum comes from Canada cementing its status as a throwing nation at last year’s world championships. Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers both claimed world titles in their respective hammer throw events. Sarah Mitton added to the throws haul with a silver in shot put, before becoming world indoor champion in early March. In May, she posted the world-leading mark in women’s shot put.
At 22, Katzberg will make his Olympic debut. Winning the world title at 21 years old rendered him the youngest man ever to be hammer throw world champion. He owns the farthest throw in the world this year, which is also the longest hammer throw by anyone since 2008. Paris 2024 will mark a second Olympic appearance for both Mitton and Rogers.
“Tokyo was just my second senior team and it was a learning experience in every regard. A lot has changed in a good way. We’ve grown so much as a team,” Rogers said. “To know that I will be able to look out into the stands and see so many people that I hold near and dear to my heart is going to be amazing. Having all that love and support coming in, I couldn’t be more excited. We’re going to Paris to throw really far and fight to the very end.”
“We’re focusing on the training now – keeping our heads down, staying focused and hoping for a good outcome in Paris,” Katzberg said. “It’s exciting,” he said about the recent unprecedented success of Canadian hammer throwers. “Having Camryn up there, as well, is incredible timing. Seeing us continue to grow and improve helps keep me going.”
Canada can also lay claim to having two of the best decathletes in the world at Paris 2024. Pierce LePage took the world title in 2023, followed closely by teammate Damian Warner with the silver medal. Warner enters Paris as the defending Olympic champion. His fourth Olympic Games and LePage’s second could see the two Canadians battle it out over the 10 events for the top podium spot.
“To go back to the Olympics for a fourth time is a privilege. Not everyone gets to do that, so I don’t take it lightly. I feel like I’m in great shape and ready to go. I’m looking forward to getting back there and defending my title,” Warner said. “We have such a strong team. To me, one of the coolest things is that we have athletes in so many different sports. The team is awesome. It’s so well-rounded and I’m excited to get out there and represent alongside them.”
Marco Arop is another Canadian medal hopeful. Coming off a world championship title in the men’s 800m, Arop has been clear that his eyes are on the Olympic gold.
As has become usual, Andre De Grasse will be a must-watch athlete at Paris 2024. Canada’s most-decorated male Summer Olympian is back for his third Games to try and add to his count of six Olympic medals. He’ll be joined by the other members of the 4x100m relay team that won silver at Tokyo 2020 and gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships – Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney.
“I’ll just use my experience to my advantage. I know what to expect. I know what I have to do. Every Olympics is different, but from my first one, then a pandemic in my second one, I’m just going to go out there, remain focused, and remember all the things that got me there,” he said. “My advice to everyone going to their first Olympics is to enjoy the moment, have fun, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just remember that your family, your friends, everyone is rooting for you and supporting you. Use that as your momentum to get through the Games.
Among those making their Olympic debut on the track will be two of this season’s breakout stars – Audrey Leduc and Christopher Morales-Williams. Leduc broke the Canadian records in both the women’s 100m and 200m this spring, erasing a nearly 40-year-old mark in the former. She also helped Canada qualify a women’s 4x100m relay for Paris 2024. Morales-Williams owns the fastest time in the world this year in the men’s 400m, breaking a nearly 19-year-old Canadian record in May.
“I did not see this coming. I was hoping to qualify for the relay and the 100 metres via the World Ranking, but I didn’t expect the 200 metres, too,” Leduc said. “I’ve done the Quebec Games and the Canada Games, and the Olympic Games is just the big thing, every four years. I’m just excited to get there, represent Canada as best I can, and run fast. On the track said, I want to qualify for the finals. On the personal side, I want to collect as many pins as I can!”
Paris 2024 will see Mohammed Ahmed continue his efforts to step to the top of the podium after winning 5000m silver at Tokyo 2020. He will undertake the 5000m/10,000m double once again. He was already named to Team Canada as a 10,000m athlete in May, along with five other distance athletes. Ahmed looks to be in fine form heading to Paris, running the fastest time by a Canadian on Canadian soil at the Olympic Trials on June 27.
READ: Six athletes nominated to Team Canada for Paris 2024 race walk, 10,000m, and marathon events
Those who enjoyed the dramatics of his dive over the line to take gold in the men’s 1500m at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games will have to tune in to watch Charles Philibert-Thiboutot at Paris 2024. The 33-year-old made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, but then a string of injuries and bad luck thwarted his qualification for Tokyo 2020. Undeterred, Philibert-Thiboutot kept at it, clocking the Olympic standard in July 2023.
Canada will also be one to watch in the women’s 4x400m relay after fourth-place finishes at Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The Canadian athletics team at Paris 2024 will look to build off the six-medal performance at Tokyo 2020. That was the second straight Olympic Games at which Canada won six medals in athletics. It was the country’s biggest Olympic medal haul in athletics since the nine won at Los Angeles 1932.
Track and field will take place August 2 to 10 (Days 7-15) at the Stade de France.
Team Canada Track and Field Athletes at Paris 2024
Mariam Abdul-Rashid (Oshawa, Ont.)
Eliezer Adjibi (Ottawa, Ont.)
Mohammed Ahmed (St. Catharines, Ont.)
Marco Arop (Edmonton, Alta.)
Duan Asemota (Ajax, Ont.)
Jerome Blake (Kelowna, B.C.)
Aaron Brown (Toronto, Ont.)
Kyra Constantine (Toronto, Ont.)
Andre De Grasse (Markham, Ont.)
Jean-Simon Desgagnés (Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que.)
Evan Dunfee (Richmond, B.C.)
Malindi Elmore (Kelowna, B.C.)
Crystal Emmanuel-Ahye (Toronto, Ont.)
Thomas Fafard (Repentigny, Que.)
Ben Flanagan (Kitchener, Ont.)
Lauren Gale (Ottawa, Ont.)
Rowan Hamilton (Chilliwack, B.C.)
Michelle Harrison (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Ethan Katzberg (Nanaimo, B.C.)
Adam Keenan (Victoria, B.C.)
Marie-Éloïse Leclair (Montreal, Que.)
Audrey Leduc (Gatineau, Que.)
Pierce LePage (Whitby, Ont.)
Cameron Levins (Black Creek, B.C.)
Rory Linkletter (Calgary, Alta.)
Kieran Lumb (Vancouver, B.C.)
Olivia Lundman (Lantzville, B.C.)
Jacqueline Madogo (Ottawa, Ont.)
Ceili McCabe (Vancouver, B.C)
Sade McCreath (Ajax, Ont.)
Sarah Mitton (Brooklyn, N.S.)
Christopher Morales Williams (Maple, Ont.)
Malachi Murray (Edmonton, Alta.)
Anicka Newell (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Alysha Newman (Delaware, Ont.)
Jasneet Nijjar (Surrey, B.C.)
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Québec, Que.)
Simone Plourde (Montreal, Que.)
Madeline Price (Toronto, Ont.)
Brendon Rodney (Etobicoke, Ont.)
Camryn Rogers (Richmond, B.C.)
Zoe Sherar (Toronto, Ont.)
Jazz Shukla (Toronto, Ont.)
Lucia Stafford (Toronto, Ont.)
Aiyanna Stiverne (Laval, Que.)
Savannah Sutherland (Borden, Sask.)
Damian Warner (London, Ont.)
Regan Yee (Vancouver, B.C.)