GLASGOW — With the bright lights shining down on the infield of Emirates Arena, Canadian athletes got in one last training session on Thursday morning ahead of Friday’s start of the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Fourteen Canadians have made the trip to Glasgow to compete in the 19th edition of the world indoor championships.
With the Paris Olympics less than five months away, Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert says this is a crucial event for the athletes who have made the trip to continue their preparation for the Games.
“It’s fun. It’s quick. It’s the penultimate step to the Olympics. But make no mistake, a lot of the athletes you see here are the ones that will be lining up for medals in Paris,” Gilbert told CBC Sports. “This is a high-level competition. It’s not for everybody.
“But the people who are here are going to perform and work on different things.”
Canadian athletics is coming off a world championship this past summer that saw its athletes win six medals — four gold and two silver.
Gilbert, who was part of Canada’s 4×100-metres relay team that won gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, says there is momentum and great anticipation ahead of the Paris Games.
“It’s amazing to say the least. I think our athletes have been knocking it out of the park when it comes to preparation,” he said. “They’ve taken it to the next level and believe they can win on the global stage which is what we’ve tried to reiterate. Performance on demand.
“Our athletes in track and field in Canada right now are doing a phenomenal job.”
The world indoors are a three-day competition that will feature more than 650 athletes, including 20 reigning indoor champions from two years ago and seven gold-medal winners from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Athletics fans can watch the event on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem beginning Friday at 2 p.m. ET.
Canada’s only medal winner from indoor worlds two years ago in Belgrade, Damian Warner, has elected not to attend the event. He won gold in the heptathlon in 2022, however, Warner has stayed in London, Ont., to continue his training.
The highest profile athlete competing for Canada in Glasgow is shot putter Sarah Mitton, who just a week ago set a new Canadian indoor record of 20.08m at a meet in Czech Republic.
The Brooklyn, N.S., native is the world silver medallist from the Budapest world championships last summer, Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American Games champion.
Mitton, 27, is brimming with confidence going into the world indoor championships.
“I want to get that gold medal. I feel I’m in the right shape for it. It’s going to be a battle out there. On the day it could be anyone but I feel there is still more in the tank,” Mitton said. “The biggest challenge is the time of year. We always have bigger goals for the outdoor season.
“The best thing about this though is a far throw, is a far throw. There’s no difference between a far throw indoors and a far throw outdoors.”
Mitton is one of the first Canadians in competition in the opening session on Friday morning. There isn’t a lot of time to ease into the event but that’s not getting in the way of her pursuit of the podium.
“I’m ready and I want to set the tone for Canada. It’s a small but mighty team which is exciting. I’m looking forward to starting the team off and getting that momentum going,” she said.
“She’s been absolutely sensational,” Gilbert said. “Having great training sessions. She’s not quite where she wants to be but she’s throwing far. I think we’ll see some good things from Sarah.”
WATCH | Mitton leads Canadian hopes at World Athletics Indoor Championships:
Devin Heroux of CBC Sports breaks down the key storylines in Glasgow, Scotland.
Also competing for Canada is long-time pole vaulter Alysha Newman. She, like Mitton, just set a new indoor Canadian record in the pole vault at a meet last week.
Newman, 29, cleared an indoor personal best to break her record, soaring 4.83m to win the women’s pole vault event at All-Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand, France last Thursday.
“It felt like it was the end of five years pushing toward something. It really does give me confidence and feel like I’m valued as an international pole vaulter,” she said.
Newman, who has represented Canada at the past two Olympics, has been plagued by injury including a concussion that left her out of competition for a considerable amount of time.
But she’s found her groove again and credits having fun and finding joy as a key part of her return to excellence.
“If I’m not enjoying it, I’m not going to be jumping high. I’m at a place in my career where I’m loving being at the track. It’s where I want to be. I’m getting up and wanting to get to the track. It’s taken five years to get that feeling back,” she said.
“I think I can find another Canadian record here. The top-12 women in the world could end up on the podium. And I’m going to use it as if I’m in the Olympic final. I want to hit every attempt on my first attempt.”
Intrigue abounds in the men’s 60-metre as 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay world champion Noah Lyles goes up against fellow American Chistian Coleman.
Should Lyles win gold in Glasgow, he’ll be only the third man in history to have won the 100m, 200m and 60m world champion titles.
Canadians Malachi Murray and Brendon Rodney will also be competing in the event.
Gilbert says this will be a valuable experience for both Canadian sprinters.
“Getting out of the heats and into the semi, and one of them might sneak into the final. Working on the short acceleration. Malachi loves the 60m. Brendon likes those longer distances. They want to work on that first half,” he said.
The men’s 60m heats go Friday morning with the talented field going for gold later that evening.
Canadians looks to capitalize on Ingebrigtsen’s absence
Canadians Kieran Lumb and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot are both taking part in the men’s 1,500m at the world indoors and the competition is wide open.
With Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen not attending due to injury and a few other favourites also out of the competition for various reasons, Lumb and Philibert-Thiboutot both feel they have a chance to make it onto the podium.
Quebec’s Philibert-Thiboutot has already competed in three indoor 1500m events this season and each time he’s set personal bests.
To say this is a big moment for him ahead of Paris is an understatement – he badly wants to reach the podium on this grand athletic stage.
“It’s incredibly exciting. I know I’m fit and ready for this. It’s one thing to show up thinking if the stars align I could maybe medal. But this time I think I can do this. It’s very motivating,” he said.
“It all starts with making the final. I’ve never made a world championship final. And then on Sunday I’ll be trying to run and see how high I can place. It’s a special situation.”
There has been frustration for Philibert-Thiboutot the past two world championships, failing to miss the finals in Eugene and Budapest by the smallest of margins, something he says has not sat well with him.
“I’m here for that exact reason. The last two worlds I got eliminated by a hair and I felt I made tactical errors. It’s unforgivable,” he said.
“It’s weighed heavily on me that I haven’t made the final.”
It’s all about running a tactically sound race on the smaller indoor track, says Philibert-Thiboutot. He says if he can master that inside Emirates Arena, it may mean a breakthrough moment in his career ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“I feel I have tons more to give. It feels pretty exciting. Things are really starting to click. That speed and capacity to change gears is there and I feel ready to go,” he said.
“Tactics become a game-changer. Running outdoors the big dogs can hang out. But indoors if you’re stuck it’s a lot more difficult. You have a limited amount of moves you can do and when you do move, there has to be a significant surge.”