Canada will be in the women’s 4 x 100m relay at the Paris Olympics. Sade McCreath, Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Audrey Leduc and Crystal Emmanuel-Ahye managed to qualify the country in a spectacular race on Saturday at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas.
With their eyes glued to the scoreboard, the Canadians waited a few seconds before receiving confirmation that they had indeed achieved their goal. The two best teams in each wave of qualifications guaranteed their country a place for the Paris Games this summer.
The four Canadians exploded with joy when they saw their time of 42.98 seconds displayed, good for second place, behind the Poles (42.81 seconds). They had just beaten the Chinese and Italians by only 5 hundredths of a second.
“Sade (McCreath) started the relay really well and gave it to Marie-Éloïse afterwards. In turn, I tried to run as fast as I could to give it to Crystal so that she could finish like she did,” summarized Audrey Leduc in one breath.
The Quebecer stole the show as the third torchbearer. The one who has held the Canadian record in the 100m for only a few weeks made quite a comeback, going from sixth to second place, covering the distance in 10.18 s.
She handed the baton to her teammate Crystal Emmanuel-Ahye while shouting “Let’s go girl!” “, she told CBC Sport. Encouragements that the triple Olympian heard before finishing the work at the finish line.
Marie-Éloïse Leclair still seemed in shock when the time came to comment on this feat.
“My teammates supported me really well, they encouraged me and gave me a lot of confidence. It’s truly an honor to run with them and achieve something so exceptional! I’m really proud of us,” said the Candiac athlete.
“It’s an incredible experience, I can’t even believe I’m here!” Just to race here with girls who have so much experience, it’s great. »
Leduc, from Gatineau, is also excited to represent Canada in the Bahamas this weekend.
“We were supposed to be at the worlds in Poland in 2021, but they were canceled due to COVID-19. It’s a really great experience to be able to be here and run with the girls. »
The men’s 4x100m relay, made up of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse, then managed to qualify in turn.
Then, Zoe Sherar, Aiyanna Stiverne, Kyra Constantine and Alyssa Marsh imitated their compatriots by qualifying Canada in the women’s 4x400m.
The Canadian relays will now prepare for the finals which will take place on Sunday.