Justyn Knight

Biography

Justyn Knight made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where he finished an impressive seventh in the 5000m. He had advanced to the final by placing third in his first round heat.

Knight first competed for Canada at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships where he finished eighth in the 5000m. The following year he ran in the U20 World Cross Country Championships. In 2016 he finished second in the 1500m at his first senior Canadian Championships.

In 2017, Knight won another silver at the Canadian Championships, this time in the 5000m. That earned him a spot at his first senior World Athletics Championships where he finished an impressive ninth. In 2018, Knight was again runner-up to Mohammed Ahmed in the 5000m at the Canadian Championship and went on to win bronze at the NACAC Championships in Toronto. After a third straight silver at the national championships in 2019, he posted another top-10 finish in the 5000m at the World Athletics Championships.

In June 2021, Knight broke the 13-minute barrier for the first time in the 5000m, running 12:51.93 at the Golden Gala Diamond League in Italy.

While competing for Syracuse University, Knight was the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Champion and 2018 Indoor Champion in the 5000m. He was also the runner-up four separate times at NCAA Championships in cross country, the 3000m, and 5000m. He finished his collegiate career as an eight-time All-American and was named the Syracuse Male Athlete of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as Rookie of the Year in 2015.

A Little More About Justyn

Getting into the Sport: Didn’t begin running cross country until 10th grade… Outside Interests: Majored in social work at Syracuse…