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The 2013 Canadian Track and Field Championship serves as the selection trials for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships and Jeux de la Francophonie. Athletes aiming to represent Canada at the IAAF or IPC World Championships need to place in the top three in order to be eligible for selection. As such, a number of events will provide plenty of drama, joy, and in some cases heartbreak. Here’s a look at some of the Moncton 2013 can’t miss events.

Follow the championship live on Bell Aliant, live streaming is presented by TIMEX.

Athletics

IAAF World Championship athlete tracking

• Men’s 100-metres (FINAL Saturday 9:20 p.m.) Will Aaron Brown of Toronto, Ont., who set a personal best of 10.05 at the NCAA Division I Championships in the 100-metres, dip below ten seconds? Who will be crowned Canada’s fastest man? 2012 Olympians Justyn Warner, of Markham, Ont., Gavin Smellie of Etobicoke, Ont., and Jared Connaughton of New Haven, PEI., will surely have a say in the matter.
• Men’s 3000-metres Steeplechase (FINAL Friday 6:50 p.m.) Four men already hold a World Championship standard in the event; only three can go to Moscow. You won’t want to miss the race for the podium between Matthew Hughes of Oshawa, Ont., Alex Genest of Lac-aux-Sables, Que., Taylor Milne of Guelph, Ont., and Chris Winter of Vancouver, B.C.
• Men’s high jump (FINAL Saturday 6:00 p.m.) At the 2012 Olympic Games Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., and Michael Mason of Nanoose Bay, B.C., both jumped the same height of 2.29-metres. Drouin was awarded bronze based on count back. This year he set a new Canadian record of 2.36-metres. You don’t want to miss this Olympic rematch as Drouin and Mason look to soar to new heights.
• Men’s shot put (FINAL Friday 9:15 p.m.) Shot in the Dark, enough said. If that’s not enough three of the big men have World Championship A standards; Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, B.C., Tim Nedow of Brockville, Ont., and Justin Rodhe of Kamloops, B.C.
• Women’s 800-metres (FINAL Sunday 1:55 p.m.) This race will feature four Olympians; Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., Diane Cummins of Victoria, B.C., Jessica Smith of North Vancouver, B.C., and Hilary Stellingwerff of Sarnia, Ont. The event also includes Karine Belleau-Béliveau and Lemlem Ogasilassie, both from Montreal, Que., who have shown this season they are not to be overlooked.
• Women’s 400-metre hurdles (FINAL Sunday 1:20 p.m.) Three women have the World Championship B standard. Without an A standard in the event only one can represent Canada in Moscow. A spot on the World Championship team will be on the line when Fawn Dorr, Noelle Montcalm of Windsor, Ont., and Sarah Wells from Unionville, Ont., line up.
• Women’s 1500-metres (FINAL 12:30 p.m.) Canada’s middle distance depth is also evident in this event. Three women hold a World Championship standard. 2012 Olympians Sheila Reid of Newmarket, Ont., (A standard) and Nicole Sifuentes of Winnipeg, Man., (A standard) must be feeling the pressure from Kate Van Buskirk of Brampton, Ont., (B standard) who seems to lower her personal best in every outing this season.
• Women’s 100-metre hurdles (FINAL Sunday 3:05 p.m.) Jessica Zelinka of London, Ont., and Angela Whyte of Edmonton, Alta., are both Olympic finalists. Zelinka is still searching for the form which saw her set a personal best last season of 12.65. Last weekend Whyte blasted back onto the scene with a World Championship A standard of 12.66 which currently ranks her fourth in the world.

Para-athletics

IPC World Championship athlete tracking

• Men’s T53 / T54 classification wheelchair 400-metres (FINAL Friday 5:05 p.m.) The T54 classification event features four athletes who are national team regulars in Jean-Paul Compaore of Sherbrooke, Que., Alexandre Dupont of Bradwell, Sask., Colin Mathieson of Winnipeg, Man., and Curtis Thom of Ottawa, Ont. All four athletes hold the World Championship B standard. The T53 classification is headlined by Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que. Lakatos won a pair of silver medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games. He has the elite World Championship standard in the 400-metres and 100-metres.
• Men’s T54 classification wheelchair 800-metres (FINAL Sunday 1:45 p.m.) Three men enter the event with the World Championship B standard; Josh Cassidy of Ottawa, Ont., Jean-Paul Compaore of Sherbrooke, Que., and Alexandre Dupont of Bradwell, Sask.Cassidy finished fifth in this event at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
• Men’s ambulatory 100-metres (FINAL Saturday 11:00 a.m.) Braedon Dolfo of Langley, B.C., has the World Championship B standard in the T13 category. In the T44 category three men enter with a World Championship standard; Alister McQueen of Calgary, Alta., who just recently set a new Canadian record has the A. Jackie Marciano and Phillipe Poulin, both hailing from Halifax, N.S., have B standards. In the T42 category Earle Connor of Calgary, Alta., has the A standard, Earle finished fourth in this event at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
• Women’s ambulatory 100-metres (FINAL Saturday 10:55 a.m.) Virginia McLachlan of Windsor, Ont., leads the way in the women’s ambulatory sprints having the World Championship elite standard in the 100 and 200-metres. She won bronze in both events at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
• Women’s T52 classification 100-metres (FINAL Thursday 10:55 a.m.) Michelle Stilwell of Nanoose Bay, B.C., won silver in this event at the 2012 Paralympic Games. At those same Games she won gold in the 200-metres.
• Women’s T54 classification 800-metres (FINAL Sunday 1:34 p.m.) Keira-Lyn Frie of Saskatoon, Sask., and Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., lead the way in this event. Frie, who represented Canada at the 2012 Paralympic Games in four events, holds a World Championship B standard in the 800-metres. Roy, a multiple Paralympic Games medalist, also has a World Championship B standard. She was a finalist in this event at the London Games.

For a complete event schedule, live results, ticket information and all other championship info visit www.moncton2013.com.

-AC-

Emily Hooper
Coordinator, Marketing and Communications
Athletics Canada
(613) 260-5580 x.3332

Ottawa – Athletics Canada announced today that three Canadian communities have submitted a letter of intent to move forward in the domestic bid process to host the 2017 IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Youth Championships in Athletics. The successful domestic bid candidate will move onto the international bid phase.

Potential host communities – IAAF World Youth Championships

• Montreal, led by Montreal Tourism, and the City of Montreal
• Ottawa, led by Ottawa Tourism, the City of Ottawa, and the Ottawa Lions
• Toronto, led by Athletics Ontario and Toronto Sports Council

Potential host communities have until October 9, 2013 to submit their completed bid application to Athletics Canada. Site visits to each bid community will be held before October 31, 2013 by a representative of Athletics Canada’s bid evaluation committee. Bid communities will present to Athletics Canada’s evaluation committee on December 4, 2013, the following day Athletics Canada will formerly name the Canadian bid city which will move into the IAAF’s international bid process.

• 2017 World Youth Championships fact sheet

The IAAF is expected to open the international bid process in early 2014 and is expected to select the host city for the 2017 World Youth Championships by the end of the same year (2014).

Athletes from playground to podium to share national stage at Canadian Championship

Ottawa – More than one kind of champion will compete at the Stade Moncton Stadium in Moncton, N.B., June 20-23. Athletics Canada and the local organizing committee for the 2013 Canadian Track & Field Championship are pleased to announce that the New Brunswick provincial final for the HERSHEY’S Track and Field Games will take place in conjunction with the national championship which also serves as the selection trials for the World Championships.

"One of our objectives in hosting the national event is to help grow the sport," says Doug Robertson, Local Organizing Committee chair. On the last day of elite competition (Sunday, June 23) athletes aged 9 to 14 who advanced through New Brunswick school and regional meets will compete in the New Brunswick final of the HERSHEY’S Track and Field Games. Robertson adds, "The inclusion of the HERSHEY’S provincial final fits right into our mandate. I am really happy we were able to make it fit into the championship schedule. The kids will get to spend Sunday at the Stade Moncton Stadium, first to compete, and then watching all the championship finals."

New Brunswick provincial finalists will have the opportunity to compete on the very same track as those battling for spots to represent Canada. "This is a great breakthrough and is a first for the Canadian HERSHEY’s Track and Field Games program," said Dave Thomas, New Brunswick provincial chair for the HERSHEY’S program. "It bodes well for the promotion of the sport at the national level and of the HERSHEY’S grassroots program."

Registration and t-shirt pick up for HERSHEY’s provincial finalists begins at 8:15 a.m. June 23. The 2013 New Brunswick Provincial HERSHEY’S meet starts at 9:45 am. The Canadian Championship schedule will resume at noon with the semi-finals of the 200-metres.

Deadline for registration in the HERSHEY’S competition is June 19 at 11:59 p.m. Registration is available at www.trackiereg.ca.

Des athlètes, venant du terrain de jeu jusqu’au podium, partageront la scène nationale lors du Championnat canadien

Ottawa – Plus d’une sorte de champions concourront au Stade Moncton Stadium, à Moncton, N.-B., du 20 au 23 juin. Athlétisme Canada et le Comité organisateur local du Championnat canadien d’athlétisme de 2013 sont heureux d’annoncer que la Finale provinciale des Jeux d’athlétisme de HERSHEY’S du Nouveau-Brunswick aura lieu dans le cadre du championnat national, qui sert aussi de compétition de sélection pour le Championnat du monde.

« Un de nos objectifs dans l’organisation de cet événement national est d’aider le sport à croître », dit Doug Robertson, le président du Comité organisateur local. Lors du dernier jour de compétition d’élite (dimanche le 23 juin), des athlètes âgés de 9 à 14 ans, qui sont passés par des compétitions scolaires et régionales à travers le Nouveau-Brunswick, concourront dans la Finale du Nouveau-Brunswick des Jeux d’athlétisme de HERSHEY’S. Robertson ajoute : « L’inclusion de la finale provinciale HERSHEY ‘convient parfaitement à notre mandat. Je suis vraiment content de pouvoir l’intégrer à l’horaire du championnat. Les enfants pourront passer le dimanche au Stade Moncton Stadium, premièrement pour concourir, puis pour voir toutes les finales du championnat. »

Les finalistes provinciaux du Nouveau-Brunswick auront la chance de concourir sur la même piste que ceux qui lutteront pour représenter le Canada. « Ceci représente une percée formidable, et une première pour le programme des Jeux d’athlétisme de HERSHEY’S », dit Dave Thomas, le président du programme provincial du Nouveau-Brunswick des Jeux d’athlétisme de HERSHEY’S. « Ça augure bien pour la promotion du sport au niveau national et pour le programme communautaire HERSHEY’S. »

L’enregistrement et le ramassage des t-shirts par les finalistes provinciaux HERSHEY’S commence à 08 h 15, le 23 juin. La compétition provinciale HERSHEY’S du Nouveau-Brunswick débute à 09 h 45. L’horaire du Championnat canadien reprendra à midi avec les demi-finales du 200 mètres.

L’échéance pour les inscriptions à la compétition HERSHEY’S est le 19 juin à 23 h 59. L’inscription s’effectue à www.trackiereg.ca.