Canadian contenders focused on Diamond League Final after successful athletics worlds | CBC Sports

It’s been a top priority for Sarah Mitton this outdoor season. Aaron Brown hasn’t stopped his pursuit despite disappointment at the World Athletics Championships. And as a newly crowned world champion, Marco Arop is further motivated to achieve his next goal.

For four months, the elite track and field athletes have competed around the world for a chance to qualify for the Sept. 16-17 Diamond League Final in hopes of becoming Canada’s first champion since shot putter Dylan Armstrong in 2011.

“I know she has sights on winning Diamond League. She isn’t working this hard for second,” said Mitton’s coach Rich Parkinson, months before she became the first-ever Canadian woman to earn a world shot put medal with silver last Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.

Mitton finished second at her first Diamond League Final a year ago in Zurich, falling short of the 20 metres needed to upend Chase Ealey of the United States.

Sprinter Brown and middle-distance runner Arop — the other top contenders to make an appearance at this year’s Final in Eugene, Ore. — placed top-three a year ago and are inching closer to the coveted title of Diamond League champion that includes $30,000 US in prize money and a trophy.

But work remains to qualify, with Brown, relay teammate Andre De Grasse and Arop looking to improve their chances this week. The former competes Thursday at the Weltklasse Zurich meet, which will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem at 2 p.m. ET. Arop will race the men’s 800 metres on Saturday in Xiamen, China, with coverage on the CBC platforms at 7 a.m. ET.

All season, athletes have been awarded points for ranking first through eighth at each meet, with the top eight runners in the 100m to 800m events advancing to the Final. The top six in field events move on, along with the top 10 in the 1,500 and distance competitions.

Should there be a tie, the athlete with the best legal performance of the season is ranked higher.

WATCH | Athletics North recaps World Athletics Championships:

Here’s what happened at the 2023 World Athletics Championships | Athletics North

A jam-packed 9 days full of highs, lows and so many incredible moments from the very best athletes in the world. Athletics North host, Rob Pizzo is joined by certified track nerd Morgan Campbell to take you through their favourite moments from the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

World medallists Lyles, Knighton in Zurich 200m

De Grasse and Brown are outside the top eight in the 100 and not part of the entry list for the pre-Final race on Saturday in Xiamen.

Instead, they will run the 200 in Zurich at 3:41 p.m. ET in a field featuring five of the nine runners from the Aug. 25 world final, including Americans Noah Lyles (gold medal) and Erriyon Knighton (silver).

Brown is tied with Cuba’s Reynier Mena and Knighton for second with 16 points, three behind Liberian-American Joseph Fahnbulleh.

I know my last 100 [metres] is good. It’s that first 100 I gotta clean up.— Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse on his 200-metre performance

Last year, Brown was second at the Diamond League Final in the 200 and third in the 100. On Thursday, he’ll need to show he has moved beyond the disappointment of being disqualified in the world 200 semifinals for a lane infringement.

De Grasse and Kyree King of the United States are tied for eighth in the Diamond League standings. King isn’t in Zurich but could boost his point total at the last pre-Final meet on Sept. 8 in Brussels. De Grasse was sixth in last week’s 200 final in Budapest in 20.14 seconds and told CBC Sports he needs to become a contender again in the 100 next season.

“I know my last 100 [metres] is good. It’s that first 100 I gotta clean up,” the Markham, Ont., sprinter told Andi Petrillo. “It’s costing me a bit on the turn [in the 200] and [I’m] letting [my closest competitors] get away from me. You can’t catch anybody if you let them get so much room off the turn.”

Placing fourth or higher at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich could prove tough for Brown and De Grasse, who haven’t run under 20 seconds this season, unlike others in the race — Lyles (19.47), Knighton (19.72), Zharnel Hughes (19.73) and Kenny Bednarek (19.82).

WATCH | Donovan Bailey reacts to Lyles triple crown at world championships:

Donovan Bailey reacts to Canada’s 4 golds, Noah Lyles triple, De Grasse sitting out 4x100m

Host Rob Pizzo is joined by 1996 100m Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey for his reaction to the biggest moments from the final days of the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Canada’s Thorne in non-Diamond League race

Lyles is among only four sprinters to win triple crowns at worlds (100, 200 and 400) but he’s on track to miss the Final in the sprint double. He’s tied for eighth in the 100 and alone in 10th in the 200, having raced each event only once this season on the circuit.

Canada’s Craig Thorne (men’s 110m hurdles) will also compete in Switzerland in a non-Diamond League points event. In late July, the native of Quispamsis, N.B., won a national title, beating reigning Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner to the finish line in Langley, B.C.

Meanwhile, Arop was the first Canadian to be crowned world champion in the 800, reaching the finish in one minute 44.24 seconds on a humid evening at the National Athletics Centre.

The 24-year-old from Edmonton will be one of eight 2023 world champions competing in Xiamen, site of the first Diamond League in China since 2019. In August, World Athletics announced it would replace Shenzhen on the competition calendar for the next 10 years.

WATCH | Arop wins world 800m gold in Budapest:

Canada’s Marco Arop speeds to 800m gold at the worlds

The Edmonton runner captured Canada’s first-ever gold medal in the 800 meters after a dominant second lap.

Arop will race Saturday at 7:44 a.m. ET, aiming to climb the standings from a fourth-place tie with Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the Ethiopian who won silver at worlds ahead of Great Britain’s Ben Pattison. Wanyonyi and Pattison are part of Saturday’s 13-man field.

Mitton, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, is scheduled to compete in Germany before returning to the Diamond League circuit in Brussels. The Brooklyn, N.S., native is tied for third in the standings with reigning world champion Ealey. Auriol Dongmo of Portugal and American Maggie Ewen sit 1-2.

In Budapest, Mitton topped 20 metres for the first time this season with a throw of 20.08 on her fifth of six attempts.

WATCH | Mitton holds off Olympic champion for world silver medal: 

Nova Scotia’s Sarah Mitton claims shot put silver at world championships

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, N.S., finishes second in the women’s shot put final at the World Athletics Championships with a distance of 20.08 metres.

Other storylines in Zurich:

• American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson may be fifth in the season standings, but she’ll be a firm favourite in the women’s 100 at 2:15 p.m. ET after her 10.65-second victory in Hungary in her global championship debut. The 23-year-old has five victories this season.
• Shericka Jackson will take another shot at American Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 21.34 world record at 3:04 p.m. ET in the women’s 200 after a few days of rest following her victory in Budapest. The Jamaican’s winning effort of 21.41 is the second-best time in history.
• At 1:18 p.m. ET, Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis will make a 10th attempt to raise his men’s pole vault world record and clear 6.23 metres. All four world medallists are in the event: EJ Obiena of the Philippines (silver), Australia’s Kurtis Marschall (bronze) and Christopher Nilsen of the U.S. (bronze).