Posted: August 28, 2008

Athletics: Canadian Track and Field - Olympics in Review

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 OTTAWA - The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were Athletics Canada’s best showing on the track and in the field in 12 years. Out of 61 countries competing in the “Bird’s Nest”, Canada finished in 16th place overall with 23 points based on the IAAF’s point system (8 points for Gold, 7 for Silver, 6 for Bronze, 5 for 4th, 4 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th and 1 for 8th.) Of the 29 events that Canada competed in, five placed among the top eight including: Bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Whitby, ON in the 100 metre hurdles. Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, BC finished 4th overall in shot put setting a new Canadian Record along the way.  Armstrong missed the podium by 1 centimetre. Victoria, BC’s 800 metre runner Gary Reed finished 4th. Jessica Zelinka of London, ON took fifth place with a new Canadian record in the heptathlon. The men’s 4x100 metre relay team set a seasonal best finishing 6th overall. Hank Palmer of Pierrefonds, QC started the race and passed the baton to Anson Henry of Pickering, ON followed by Jared Connaughton of New Haven, PEI and finally to anchor Pierre Browne of Toronto, ON. There were also eight athletes who placed among the top 12 and 11 who finished in the top 16. Scott Russell of Windsor, ON and Tabia Charles of Pickering, ON both finished 10th in the javelin throw and long jump respectively. Jim Steacy of Lethbridge, AB was the youngest hammer thrower to qualify for the final and finished in 12th place. Jared Connaughton, Megan Metcalfe and Nathan Brannen all placed 14th, 15th and 16th respectively with Metcalfe setting a new personal best. Athletics Showing - Seasonal versus Olympic Performances Name Event Hometown Pre-Beijing Seasonal Best Best Olympic Performance Ruky ABDULAI Long Jump Coquitlam, BC 6.72m 6.41m Dylan ARMSTRONG Shot Put Kamloops, BC 20.92m 21.04m CR Brian BARNETT 200m Edmonton, AB 20.48 DNF Tim BERRETT 50km Racewalk Edmonton, AB 3:52:41 4:08:18 Massimo BERTOCCHI Decathlon Tottenham, ON 8014pts 7714pts Nathan BRANNEN 1500m Cambridge, ON 3:34.65 3:39.10 Pierre BROWNE 100m Toronto, ON 10.19 10.22 Tabia CHARLES Long Jump Pickering, ON 6.82m 6.62m Tyler CHRISTOPHER 400m Edmonton, AB 44.71 45.67 Jared CONNAUGHTON 200m New Haven, PEI 20.34 20.45 Nicole FORRESTER High Jump Aurora, ON 1.95m 1.89m Sultana FRIZELL Hammer Perth, ON 70.94m 65.44m Eric GILLIS 10000m Antigonish, NS 28:07.2 29:08.1 Kelsie HENDRY Pole Vault Saskatoon, SK 4.55m 4.30m Anson HENRY 100m Pickering, ON 10.23 10.33 Priscilla LOPES-SCHLIEP 100m Hurdles Whitby, ON 12.61 12.64 Mike MASON High Jump Nanoose Bay, BC 2.27m 2.25m Megan METCALFE 5000m Edmonton, AB 15:19.7 15:11.23 PB Taylor MILNE 1500m Guelph, ON 3:36.00 3:41.56 Carline MUIR 400m Weston, ON 51.73 51.55 PB Adrienne POWER 200m Halifax, NS 22.86 23.40 Gary REED 800m Victoria, BC 1:43.68 1:44.94 Scott RUSSELL Javelin Windsor, ON 83.20m 80.90m Jim STEACY Hammer Lethbridge, ON 79.13m 76.32m Kevin SULLIVAN 1500m 5000m Brantford, ON 3:35.78 14:09.16 3:36.05 14:09.16 Achraf TADILI 800m Laval, QC 1:45.29 1:48.87 Angela WHYTE 100m Hurdles Edmonton, AB 12.96 13.11 Jessica ZELINKA Heptathlon London, ON 6034pts 6490pts CR RELAY TEAM - Hank Palmer - Anson Henry - Jared Connaughton - Pierre Browne 4x100m Pierrefonds, QC Pickering, ON New Haven, PEI Toronto, ON 38.72 38.66 SB The top three countries in Athletics at the 2008 Olympic Games were the United States with 207 points, Russia with 200 points and Kenya with 135 points. -AC- Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest