Canadian athletes are in no mood to stop to make Paris 2024 their most successful campaign ever as Sarah Mitton has cleared her way to the shot put final with one throw.
As the reigning World Champion, the Brooklyn-born athlete has arrived in Paris 2024 with expectations that are just as high as those of recent gold medalists Ethan Katzberg (gold in the hammer throw) and Camryn Rogers (gold in the women’s hammer throw). In Mitton’s first attempt, she reached 19.77m which was enough to secure her spot for Friday’s finals.
FINALS BOUND 🇨🇦
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) August 8, 2024
The women’s and men’s 4×100m relay teams, along with shot put star Sarah Mitton, who secured her spot with an impressive 19.77m throw on her first attempt, have all advanced to their event finals. 👏 pic.twitter.com/8GbuvVCwEF
In spite of the fact that she threw 19.77m, she is entering Paris 2024 with a throw of 20.68m on her back, which she threw back in May of this year. As the heartbreak of Tokyo 2020 lingers on, Sarah has set her sights on the ultimate gold medal for Canada, which will be her ultimate goal.
“I already feel like I’ve had the Olympic experience for myself, for Canada, I’m going to go out there and try to win a gold medal, or any medal.”
“I’m just feeling really relaxed and really confident, and that’s the space I wanted to be in. So, happy with the one and done, and I’m ready to come back,”
“You don’t need to throw far today, you just need to throw far enough. I think that was a nice easy throw and I think I can really build on that.” Sarah Mitton said to Olympic Canada
Stars Aligning At Paris 2024
Sarah Mitton is considered to be the favourite to win the gold medal at the Olympics, however a little bit of luck is also favoring her at this point. The world no.1 Chase Jackson is already out of competition and considering her throw was 20.10 during Olympic trials last month, surely she could’ve been a big threat to Mitton’s chances.
“I do not really know [what happened] I guess the pressure got to me,” Jackson, who has a 20.10 best this season, said after Thursday’s competition. “I do not really have a lot to say about it. I just want to get to my family.” said Chase Jackson to CBC
Strong Signs From 4×100 Relays
Despite swimming being the most successful sport for Canada at Paris 2024, athletics is starting to give big hopes of good results for the country. In the women’s 4×100 relay event, Audrey Leduc, Jacqueline Madogo, Sade McCreath, and Marie-Éloise Leclair set a new Canadian record with a 42.50-second finish to qualify for the finals.
“To finally make [the national record] happen here—as much as it’s magical, it’s what we worked for, and this is the team we are,” said Marie-Éloise Leclair to Olympic Canada
The men’s team is also not far behind as they too have qualified for the finals after finishing with a time of 38.39. This team, consisting of Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake, were bronze medalists in Rio and silver medalists in Tokyo but expectations are high for them this time around as well. There is, however, a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the future of the whole team due to the hamstring issue of Andre De Grasse.
“We’re all a little bit fatigued but tomorrow we should be OK to go,”. “It was tough. I’ve just got to push through [the hamstring issue]. One more race, give it all I’ve got, and go from there.” said De Grasse to Olympic Canada
In other Athletics events, Canada did not come away with much positive news as Savannah Sutherland (53.88) crashed out for the finals with a seventh-place finish in the women’s 400m hurdles, and Michelle Harrison (13.30) crashed out for finals with a ninth place finish in the women’s 100m hurdles.
