You can catch all the action live on AthleticsCanada.tv and through the Athletics Canada app available on the App Store & Google Play. Please note all times listed are local Mountain Time.
Along with qualifying rounds, Thursday’s action will feature seven athletes who have achieved the Paralympic Games standard on the track and in the field.
Two athletes who placed in the top four at the 2015 IPC World Championships – Renée Foessel of Orangeville, Ont., who won bronze and Jennifer Brown of Calgary who placed fourth – will kick-off the field event action at the 2016 Canadian Championships and Rio Selection Trials. Their event, the F38 Para Ambulatory Discus, will start at 10:30 a.m.
Marissa Papaconstantinou, the Canadian record holder in the T44 division, will contest the 100-metres para ambulatory final at noon. The Toronto native took part in the 2015 Parapan American Games, IPC World Championships and has a personal best of 28.16 seconds. Canadian T52 100-metres record holder and 2015 Parapan American gold medallist Michelle Stilwell will take part in the women’s 100-metres wheelchair final at 6:10 p.m. Five-time Paralympic Games medallist Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., competes in the women’s wheelchair 1500-metres final at 7:35 p.m.
The men’s wheelchair 800-metres will feature Alexandre Dupont of Clarenceville, Que., Joshua Cassidy of Guelph, Ont., and Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont. Dupont had a successful 2015 Parapan American Games racking up three gold medals, including the 800-metres. The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist is ready to win another national title. Cassidy also had success at Toronto 2015 winning a total of three silver medals. The long distance specialist has won both the London and Boston Marathons, two laps of the track will go by fast for the Paralympian. After withdrawing from Paralympic consideration in 2012, the now 19-year-old Smeenk is ready to take on Canada and the world’s best in the T34 category.
Women 5000m Final (7:55 p.m.) Standard = 15:24.00
The 5000-metres final on Day 1 should light up the track. In the women’s 5000-metres a trio of athletes have achieved the Olympic standard: Jessica O’Connell of Calgary, Alta., Andrea Seccafien of Guelph, Ont., and Rachel Cliff of Vancouver, B.C. O’Connell has been a consistent force on the Canadian and international scene while representing Canada this winter at the IAAF World Indoors and 2014 Commonwealth Games. On the verge during some early races in 2016, Seccafien broke through in May at the Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic, winning the race in impressive fashion (15:17.81). Cliff shouldn’t be counted out either as she is in fine form coming into the Trials. While they don’t have the 5000-metres standard, 10,000-metres record holder Natasha Wodak of Vancouver, B.C., and marathon record holder Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., and 2015 Pan American Games 1500-metres bronze medallist, Sasha Gollish of Toronto, could make things interesting and make this a very intriguing race to watch.
Men 5000m Final (8:35 p.m.) Standard = 13:24.00
After his Canadian record run of 13:01.74 at the Pre Classic in May, Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catherines, Ont., is the current king of Canadian distance running. Looking to challenge Ahmed will be the 10,000-metres record holder, Cameron Levins of Black Creek, B.C., and Lucas Bruchet of White Rock, B.C., who both achieved the standard last month in Portland. Ross Proudfoot of Sudbury, Ont., has flirted with the Olympic standard this year, along with Peter Corrigan of Edmonton who will challenge for a podium spot.
