Quebec sprinter Audrey Leduc and her teammates in the women’s 4 x 100-metre relay qualified for the final on Thursday at the Paris Olympic Games.
Leduc of Gatineau, Marie-Éloïse Leclair of Montreal, Jacqueline Madogo of Ottawa and Sade McCreath of Ajax, Ont., completed the event in 42.50 seconds to finish fourth in the second round of qualifying at the Stade de France, earning one of two berths awarded to teams selected for the final scheduled for Friday.
In passing, the Canadians set a new Canadian record, notably propelled by Leduc’s blistering time of 10.04 seconds during the last relay.
The last time Canada made the women’s 4x100m relay final was at the 2016 Rio Games, where it finished sixth. It also hasn’t won a medal in the event since winning silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — a 40-year drought.
Their male colleagues followed a few moments later on the track, with the same result.
Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney ran the 4x100m relay in 38.39 seconds to finish third in the second heat of qualifying. That was also enough to see them through to the final.
Canada won bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, before winning the world title in 2022.
Meanwhile, Sarah Mitton continued her path to the shot put final with a throw of 19.77 metres on her first attempt. She needed to achieve the standard of 19.15 metres or be among the top 12 to reach the final scheduled for Friday.
The 28-year-old from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, won silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the world indoor title last March. Mitton threw a personal best and season best of 20.68 metres in May.