Crew

Brittany Crew is getting used to re-writing the Canadian shot put record books.

She owns the indoor and outdoor records in shot put, is a Commonwealth and Pan American Games medallist and the owner of two FISU Universiade medals. Now she is heading to her second Olympic Games, looking to improve on her 18th place result from five years ago in Rio.

She made history at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, finishing sixth in the shot put, and becoming the first Canadian woman ever to qualify for the final in her event. She repeated the feat at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, finishing eighth in the final.

Crew’s 2017 World Championship moment capped a breakthrough season in which she claimed ownership of the long-standing Canadian women’s shot put record in May, won a second straight gold at the Canadian Track & Field Championships in July and grabbed gold at the Summer Universiade (FISU) in late August, as well.

Her national record-breaking achievement came on May 18, when Crew threw 18.47 metres at the Tucson Elite Classic, shattering the old Canadian mark of 18.31 metres, set in 2011 by Julie Labonte. Two nights later, Crew uncorked a throw of 18.58 metres, further extending the record.

Crew carried the momentum from her historic performance at the World Championships in London to Taipei City, where she won shot put gold at the 2017 Summer Universiade with a throw of 18.34 metres. “This is my biggest medal I’ve got on the world stage so far,” said Crew after her victory. “I’m proud of myself and I’m really happy my coach (Richard Parkinson) got to be here to experience it with me.”

Crew picked up where she left off in 2018, setting a new national indoor record (18.20 metres) at the Grand Prix d’Athlétisme de Montréal – with former record holder Labonte holding the measuring tape.

The young shot putter then headed to the Gold Coast looking to land on the podium at the Commonwealth Games. After qualifying for the final with a single throw, she stepped inside the shot put circle and launched a throw of 18.32 metres on her sixth and final attempt to capture the bronze medal.

And then on June 22 in Madrid, Crew improved her Canadian record with a throw of 18.60 metres in the sixth round at the IAAF World Challenge Meeting.

Crew returned to Canada to capture her third consecutive Canadian title at the Canadian Track & Field Championships, but not long after, the 25-year-old suffered a devastating ankle injury that would ultimately end her 2018 campaign.

Back in fine form, Crew established a new Canadian record (18.69 metres) in 2019, captured two Diamond League medals (a silver and a bronze), earned silver at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and set yet another Canadian record (19.28 metres) in Berlin on her way to her second straight finals appearance at the World Championships in Doha.

While the 2020 season was truncated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Crew was one of many Canadian athletes who had to get creative. Spending most of the year training and competing indoors, Crew set a new Canadian indoor record (18.81 metres) at Athletics Ontario’s third Indoor Championship Series meet, before taking part in several throwing competitions throughout Ontario.

With a series of events in the United States under her belt in 2021, Crew is heading to Tokyo for her second Olympic Games.