OREGON OVERVIEW – DAY 3 RECAP – "Day of the Cams" puts Canada on the medals board

The Oregon Overview is a daily publication that focuses on Team Canada’s pursuits at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon. The overview contains previews, recaps and observations, and will be published every day between July 15 and 24 on our website athletics.ca, and via our social channels on FacebookTwitter and Instagram

You can also read our official Team Announcement hereour full preview here, find Team Canada’s schedule here, and the overall World Championships schedule and results here. And do you want to watch it live? Catch the entire championships for FREE on CBC.

Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore tweeted it best: Sunday was a good day to be named Cam. By noontime in Oregon, marathoner Cameron Levins and hammer thrower Camryn Rogers had each etched their names larger inside the pantheon of Canadian athletics by making history in their respective events. Levins’ years-long perseverance over 42.2k brought him a two-minute Canadian record, and Rogers wrote the latest chapter to her meteoric 2022 and became an international medalist. Both of their performances electrified a fanbase that had been hungry for top 5 finishes.

Here are the three stories that made Sunday Canada’s best day of competition thus far.

Camryn Rogers Wins Canada its First Medal of the Championship

On her third toss of the hammer throw final, near the end of the morning session, Camryn Rogers made history.

The 23-year-old national record holder entered the competition ranked fourth in the world, and was considered one of Canada’s greatest medal hopefuls. By the time Rogers stepped in the circle on Sunday morning, her team was still searching for its first medal of the championship. In fact, Canada was still searching for its first ever world medal in a women’s field event.

Rogers stepped in the ring and launched for 75.52 metres for her third throw. It remained the second-best, silver-medal winning toss of the entire competition.

“I feel so completely overwhelmed right now with emotion, but I am so happy,” said Rogers shortly after the conclusion of the six rounds.

"I am so motivated and so excited to be coming home with this medal. It shows every throw, every lift, this is what it leads to."

Rogers fought back tears when asked about the significance of having her mother Shari in the crowd.

“She came down to the railing and gave me a huge hug and that's when it hit me," said Rogers. "When she wrapped her arms around me I started bawling on the spot.”

Team co-captain and fellow hammer thrower Jillian Weir finished fifth with a throw of 72.41m, which constituted her best performance at World or Olympic-level event.

“Just to be a part of one of the best competitions, it’s a huge honour,” said Weir, who added making a technical adjustment of getting more speed in the ring helped her break 70 metres twice in the competition.

“In that third round, I said, you know what? I can throw over 70m. After my national championships when I had a PB of 73.12, I knew there was more in the tank – I had decent expectations.”

Levins smashes his national marathon record, elevates Team Canada on the roads

By the time athletics fans on the west coast woke up on Sunday morning, Cam Levins was well on his way to putting together a special race. At least on paper, the two-time Olympian and Canadian marathon record holder was Canada’s best shot at a high placing in the marathon. But in recent years, Levins had struggled to replicate his lifetime best of 2:09:25 from 2018, often starting in two hours and seven minutes pace, but needing to settle for finish times a few minutes slower. On Sunday, he ran with the leaders from the start, chasing 2:07 once again.

This time, it worked, and his legacy changed. Levins hung on to his goal pace until the very end, smiling affably across the finish line under a clock reading 2:07:09. Only three men crossed before him, making Levins the highest-placing male marathoner at a World Championship in Canadian history.

“Honestly the time is just a bonus," he said between breaths after the race. "When I was there in the race I thought I am truly a marathoner I deserve to be here. It’s so cool to be able to compete at an international level like that, I haven’t really done that yet in my career.”

Minutes after his record-shattering run, Levins reflected on his training.

“I really changed a lot. I was one of the last people in the Olympics last year in the marathon, and I realized I had to be better across the board. I committed to a really great support system to be better in every conceivable way in training.”

“On the start line today,” he continued, “I was like ‘I’ve done everything that I possibly can, so whatever it’s going to be it’s going to be.’

Levins was not Canada’s only success story on the marathon course. Rory Linkletter, like Levins, also chopped two minutes from his personal best time, finishing 20th overall in 2:10:24 at his first World Championship. His time ranks the 26-year-old fifth in Canadian history. Ben Preisner was not far behind: the Milton, Ontario native was 28th in 2:11:47.

“It was the best experience of my life as far as the race goes,” said Linkletter. “I put myself in it, got every once of my efforts out of the race, and feel really proud of this one.”

Ahmed sixth in fast-closing 10,000m final

As the laps ticked down in the men’s 10,000m and the lead pack of 15 runners refused to thin out, Moh Ahmed, the Canadian record holder over the distance, ran slightly on the outside of the train of runners, waiting for the final surge.

It came at eight kilometres. The pack, led by world record holder Joshua Cheptegei cranked down the pace and closed the last five laps in 5:10. With a lap to go, eight men still jostled for position behind the Ugandan Cheptegei, and sprinted behind him as he pulled away. Despite closing in a 57 second lap, Ahmed fell to sixth. It was the seventh time the St. Catharines, Ontario-raised athlete had finished in the top six at a World Championship or Olympic Event. Still, he was not satisfied.

"We had an opportunity for a medal," said Ahmed after the race. "We thought we’d have the last 300 or 200m, and those guys just got us. We gotta come back for (2023) Worlds in Budapest."

While that may be his next crack at a World 10,000m title, Ahmed will contend for a podium spot in the 5000m on Thursday, an event in which he is the defending bronze medalist.

Three storylines to follow on Monday, July 18 (Times PST)

Leslie Sexton, Kinsey Middleton and Elissa Legault race the women’s marathon – 6:15 a.m.

Jerome Blake, and 100m finalist Aaron Brown are back in action in the 200m – 5:05 p.m.

Django Lovett looks to build on a perfect qualification round and chase podiums in the high jump final – 5:45 p.m.

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Please contact:

Caroline Sharp

Oregon Cell: 214-601-8024

WhatsApp: 613-323-5605

Email: caroline.sharp@athletics.ca

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