Seven Canadian track and field athletes qualified into their respective events semi final round on day four of athletics competition at the Olympic Games.
Halifax native Geoff Harris qualified for the men’s 800-metres semi final finished second in one of the fastest heats.
He delivered a new time of 1:45.97 which is his PB and he told the media following the event “That was a nice comfortable race, there’s definitely more there. I’ve got another gear for sure. Speed wise I can run with best.” The semi final is set for tomorrow at 19:55 local time (14:55 eastern time).
It was three for three in the women’s sprint hurdles as Phylicia George (Markham) Nikkita Holder (Pickering) and Jessica Zelinka (London), all qualified for the semi final.
George finished 2nd in her heat to automatically qualify for the semi final, clocking 12.83 seconds. “It was ok, I got out really well. I left a lot on the track, got the rust off, I can go a lot faster. “Holder finished 5th in her heat in a time of 12.93 seconds. She qualified for the semi final by way of the second fastest time. “Wasn’t my best race or start, I’ll get through on time and fine tune some things for the semis.”Zelinka placed 7th place finish in the women’s heptathlon and nailed a 12.75 which was good enough for second. “I wasn’t going for time, wanted top 3 to move into the semis.
This morning was like, hey body you aren’t done yet. I followed the same routine and rhythm, but I knew my time would be slower.”
The women’s 200-metres saw Crystal Emmanuel of Scarborough nail a 5th place finish clocking a time of 23.10. Emmanuel takes to the200-metre semi final Tuesday.
Nicole Sifuentes of Winnipeg and Hilary Stellingwerff of Sarnia both qualified into the women’s 1500-metres semi finals.
Nicole finished 7th in heat three while Hilary placed 6th in heat one in 4:05.70 and 4:07:65 respectively.
The semi finals are set for Wednesday August 8th at 19:45 local time (14:45 eastern time).
Nicole on her race “It was pretty slow to start but I felt good. I knew I need to really kick it in the last 200m. I’m really happy to get through and extend my Olympic experience.”
Hilary comments on her race “I was really nervous coming in but I felt the Canadian love out there. It was a battle, time wasn’t important, just the tactics.
I took a few scratches. Dave Scoot-Thomas (coach) said to ensure I had a lane with 400-metres left, that’s what I did. Relieved I got one down, now time to get ready for the next round.”
Sarah Wells of Unionville finished 8th in her semi-final heat stopping the clock at 56.71 seconds but failed to advance.
In the women’s shot put Julie Labonté of St. Justine finished 11th in group A qualifying with a best mark of 17.48-metres.
She also did not advance to the final which was eventually won by Ostapchuk Nadzeya of Belarus
