IAAF indoor worlds recap: Canada leaves Portland with a world champion
Athletics Canada left the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, with several season’s best performances and a new world champion in the pentathlon.
Here’s a breakdown of the four-day competition.
Day 4 – March 20, 2016
Women’s 3000m
Jessica O’Connell and Sheila Reid were the final Canadians to hit the track on Sunday. O’Connell crossed the line in a time of nine minutes 5.71s to finish ninth overall, Reid followed in 12th with a time of 9:19.67s.
Men’s 3000m
After stealing the final qualification spot in Sunday’s final – more on this below – Mohammad Ahmed, finished ninth in a time of 8 minutes 7.96s.
Day 3 – March 19, 2016
Women’s 60m
Crystal Emmanuel sprinted to a new personal best time of 7.23s, to finish third in her heat and advance to the semifinals. The Canadian matched her previous run in the second round, but did not qualify for the final.
Day 2 – March 18, 2016
On Canada’s busiest day of the competition, Brianne Theisen-Eaton became an IAAF world indoor champion, after winning the women’s pentathlon on Friday night.
Women’s pentathlon
Read: Theisen-Eaton pulls off massive comeback to win world indoors
After a thrilling competition, where Theisen-Eaton went into the final event ranked third, the Canadian produced a huge 800m run to secure her first world indoor title. Theisen-Eaton’s score of 4881 not only secured gold, but set a new national record. Georgia Ellenwood also represented Canada in the women’s pentathlon, placing 10th with a score of 4324.
Women’s 60mH
Angela Whyte, Canada’s lone 60m hurdler snuck into the event’s final, with a time a 8.09s. The Canadian, who was ranked eighth in the final, ran a season’s best of 7.99 seconds to finish fifth overall.
Men’s shot put
Tim Nedow finished seventh in men’s shot put with a distance of 20.23 meters, the Canadian’s series included two throws over 20m. Earlier this season, Nedow set a personal best of 21.33m in Stockholm, Sweden.
Men’s 3000m
Mohammed Ahmed, who broke the Canadian indoor 3000m record at Millrose Games in February, advanced to the men’s 3000m final on Sunday, after running 7 minutes 53.66s. Cameron Levins fell just two spots short of qualifying for the final, clocking 7:54.81s.
Men’s 60m
Mobolade Ajomale finished fourth in his heat with a time of 6.67s, clinching the final qualification spot for the semifinals. The Canadian improved his time to 6.60s in the second round, however Ajomale needed to beat the eighth qualifier’s time of 6.54s to advance into the final.
Women’s 1500m
Gabriela Stafford and Nicole Sifuentes both raced to season’s best in the 1500m. Stafford ran four minutes 11.46s to finish fifth in her heat, while Sifuentes finished in 4:17.24.
Men’s 400m
Philip Osei finished fourth in his heat, running 47.00s, unfortunately he did not advance to the semifinals.
Day 1 – March 18, 2016
Men’s pole vault
Shawn Barber fell just shy of medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships as it kicked off in Portland, Oregon on Thursday night.
The Canadian pole vault record holder and world champion couldn’t repeat his winning feat from Beijing 2015, clearing a maximum height of 5.75 metres and dropping out of the competition while attempting to conquer 5.85m.
RELATED: Barber’s biggest achievements to date
RELATED: 14 Canadians at world indoors in Oregon
France’s Renaud Lavillenie took gold for the second time at indoor worlds, jumping 6.02m – a championship record. He had previously won at Insanbul 2012, then clearing 5.95m. Audaciously, Lavillenie attempted to reach – but missed – 6.17m once the gold was in the bag, a height that would’ve broken his world record by one centimetre.
Sam Kendricks of the United States at 5.80m took silver and Piotr Lisek won bronze at 5.75m, the same height as Barber, but with a cleaner card. Barber reached that distance on his third attempt while Lisek did it on his only try.
Barber recently joined the exclusive six-metre club and will remain a heavyweight heading into the outdoor season, including his first Olympic Games.
