LA CLASSIQUE D'ATHLÉTISME DE MONTRÉAL 2023:
A RICH CELEBRATION OF ATHLETIC FEATS ON QUÉBEC SOIL
By Arnaud Francioni (Communications and Marketing Coordinator) and
Félix-Antoine Lapointe (Quebec Teams Head Coach)
June 30, 2023 - La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal has once again kept all its promises this year! Athletes of international and national levels met for a rich and thrilling meet. It was a special opportunity for the relatives of many athletes to be able to cheer them at home. Between good atmosphere and high caliber performances, it's a real celebration of athletics that we were able to witness this Thursday, June 29th. A brief overview of the highlights of this meeting:
We can't start without obviously mentioning the new Quebec record by Simone Plourde (CSLS) in the 1500m, one who never ends with new personal bests. After breaking the Québec record set by Mélanie Choinière in 1996 for the first time last May, Simone has pushed the limit of her own record twice in less than two months. During the event, the Québec athlete who competes mainly in the United States pushed the limit on home soil by signing a first place and a new Québec provincial record of 4:06.86! Add to the fact that Simone had to run with the smaller shoes of one of her track colleagues because of a mess in her luggage during her flight to Montréal!
In other middle-distance events, Québec City's Jean-Simon Desgagnés (CAUL) took the lead in the 1500m in 3:38.50 and with this performance signs the 4th best Québec all-time performance in the event. It should also be noted that young Émile Toupin (ZENX) took fourth place in 3:40.22 for his first year as a senior and entered the top 10 in Québec over the distance at only twenty years old!
In the 800m, another local athlete rose to the top, as Zakary Mama-Yari (CSLS), took first place on the podium in 1:48.41 within an extremely strong peloton that included Québec's best all-time middle-distance athlete, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (CAUL).
Also noteworthy among the U18 athletes was the very good performance by Robin Lefebvre (PLUS) who set a new QC U18 record in the 800m in 1:52.13.
Another athlete who has risen to the highest levels of international athletics is Nova Scotia's Sarah Mitton (SISU Throws Club) in the shot put. The 2022 Canadian champion and 4th at the World Championships in Oregon signed a new meeting record by sending a stratospheric throw to 19.15m and improves her own La Classique record (18.82m) which she established in 2021.
In the pole vault event, the decathlon World championships silver medalist Pierce LePage was able to earn first place with a 5.20 meters jump, his best result since 2021! At the Québec level, Édouard Lavoie Beaulieu, decathlon specialist, caused a surprise by taking 2nd place in the pole vault reaching the 5.00m mark for the first time in his career.
In the sprint events, Pierce LePage also the 110m hurdles in 14.04 seconds.
We should also point out another good local performance of Kimberly Hyacinthe (PLUS), 3rd in the 400m event in 52.84 up against a very tough line-up. Kim posted her best time of the season behind winner Lauren Gale (Ottawa Lions) in 52.07 and Jamaïca's Leah Anderson (52.78). Audrey Leduc (GATI) also distinguished herself by signing a very good third place in 11.67 in a very high level women's 100m where Khamica Bingham dominated the field in 11.46 sec.
In addition to all these great results, the Classique d'Athlétisme de Montréal was also able to take advantage of events introducing the youngest to athletics with an 8 x 50m activity but also the ON community 4 x 400m relay accessible to all and everyone and allowing them to discover the pleasures of the sport in a setting that could not be more appropriate. The Classique is the conclusion of several months of efforts and commitment from many partners such as Boutique Courir and ON Running Canada to make this meeting a must in Canadian athletics!
