THE NEXT EDITION OF LA CLASSIQUE, FRIDAY JUNE 21 2024
Montréal, 4 march 2024 - It is a great pleasure for us to announce the renewal of Boutique Courir as official presenter of La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal for a fifth consecutive edition. Boutique Courir's commitment to excellence in the Québec athletics community is unique. The unwavering support of our friends Gilles Labre and Daniel Beaupré, business owners, allows La Classique to write new pages of history for track & field in Québec and Canada. With its Montréal and Longueuil branches, Boutique Courir is recognized for more than 40 years for its support to our local athletes. Once again, on June 21 2024, Boutique Courir will offer a top level support in our prize money program for the Elite and Premium events and volunteer support.
On behalf of our organizing committee, volunteers and athletes, a big thanks to Boutique Courir.
LA CLASSIQUE D'ATHLÉTISME DE MONTRÉAL 2023 :
UNE CÉLÉBRATION DE L’ATHLÉTISME RICHE EN EXPLOITS EN SOL QUÉBÉCOIS
Par Arnaud Francioni (Coordonnateur communications et marketing) et
Félix-Antoine Lapointe (Entraîneur-chef des Équipes du Québec)
Montréal, 30 juin 2023 - La Classique d'Athlétisme de Montréal a une nouvelle fois tenu toutes ses promesses cette année ! Un florilège d'athlètes de calibre international et local se sont retrouvés pour une rencontre riche et palpitante. C'était notamment l'occasion pour les proches de nombreux athlètes de pouvoir les admirer à la maison. Entre bonne ambiance et prestations de hauts calibres, c'est une vraie célébration de l'athlétisme que nous avons pu observer ce jeudi 29 juin. Petit aperçu des moments forts de cette rencontre :
On ne peut commencer sans bien évidemment mentionner le nouveau record québécois de Simone Plourde (CSLS) au 1500m, qui n'en finit plus de nouveaux exploits. Après avoir une première fois battu en mai dernier le record québécois établi par Mélanie Choinière de 1996, Simone a repoussé la limite de son propre record par deux fois en moins de deux mois. Lors de l'épreuve, l'athlète qui évolue majoritairement aux États-Unis a repoussé la limite dans sa province en signant une première place et un nouveau record québécois de 4:06,86 ! À noter que Simone a dû courir avec les souliers plus petits d'une de ses collègues de piste à cause d'un imbroglio dans les bagages au moment de son voyage en avion vers Montréal !
Au sein des autres épreuves de demi-fond, le québécois Jean-Simon Desgagnés (CAUL) a pris la tête du 1500m en 3:38,50 et signe avec cette performance le 4e meilleur chrono québécois de tous les temps. Soulignons également que le jeune Émile Toupin (ZENX) a pris la quatrième place en 3:40.22 pour sa première année chez les seniors et fait son entrée dans le top 10 québécois sur la distance à seulement vingt ans !
Au 800m, c'est également un Québécois, Zakary Mama-Yari (CSLS), qui s'est élevé à la première place du podium en 1:48.41 au sein d'un peloton extrêmement relevé et accueillant notamment le détenteur du record du 1500m québécois chez les hommes, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (CAUL).
À noter également chez les juvéniles la très belle performance de Robin Lefebvre (PLUS) qui signe un nouveau record QC U18 au 800m en 1:52,13.
Dans le cadre des épreuves de concours, une autre athlète qui a repoussé les limites est l'athlète ontarienne Sarah Mitton (SISU Throws Club) au lancer du poids. Celle qui a été championne canadienne 2022 et 4e aux Championnats du monde en Oregon en 2022 a signé un nouveau record de meeting en envoyant un lancer stratosphérique à 19,15 m et améliore son propre record de La Classique (18,82m) qu'elle a établi en 2021.
Du côté des épreuves de perche, c'est le médaillé d'argent du décathlon aux Championnats du monde à Eugene en 2022, Pierce LePage (ZIND) qui a pu se tailler une première place avec une barre franchie à 5,20 mètres, son meilleur résultat depuis 2021 ! Au niveau québécois, Édouard Lavoie Beaulieu, spécialiste du décathlon, cause la surprise en prenant la 2e place au saut à la perche en franchissant la marque de 5.00m pour la première fois en carrière.
Du côté des épreuves de sprint, c'est également Pierce LePage qui a dominé l'épreuve et a pu se tailler une première place au 110m haies en 14,04.
Soulignons également au niveau québécois la performance de Kimberly Hyacinthe (PLUS), 3e sur l'épreuve du 400m en 52.84 dans un alignement très relevé et qui signe son meilleur temps de la saison ! Audrey Leduc (GATI) s'est également distinguée en signant une très belle troisième place en 11,67 dans un 100m féminin de très haut niveau qui s'est joué sur le fil !
En plus de tous ces beaux résultats, la Classique d'Athlétisme de Montréal a également pu profiter d'épreuves faisant découvrir l'athlétisme aux plus jeunes avec une activité de 8 x 50m mais aussi du relais 4 x 400m communautaire ON accessible à toutes et tous et faisant découvrir les plaisirs de la discipline dans un cadre on ne peut plus adéquat. Ce meeting est la conclusion de plusieurs mois d'efforts et d'engagement de nombreux partenaires comme Boutique Courir et ON Running Canada de faire de cette rencontre un incontournable de l'athlétisme !
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Stand for Ukraine!
La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal donates 1800$ for support to Montreal's Ukrainian refugees
Montreal September 15, 2023 - For a second consecutive year, la
Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal supports the cause of Montreal's
Ukrainian refugees. With the growing number of spectators who
attended the Classic on June 29, we are proud to donate $1,800
for the cause of the St. Sophie Orthodox Cathedral of Montréal. We
handed over the donation today during our visit at the refugee aid
center in the Rosemont district of Montreal. Despite the fact that the
invasion and war in Ukraine has been going on for 19 months, the
Ukrainian community still needs support. The St. Sophie Church
continues to work tirelessly to help new refugees who continue to
arrive in Montréal and Québec.
Thanks to Mr. Simon Kouklewsky who welcomed us and accepted our
donation on behalf of the Cathedral volunteers.
YOU CAN ALSO SUPPORT THE ATHLETES BY BECOMING A VOLUNTEER AT LA CLASSIQUE
CONTACT: lucie.ruffin@gmail.com
Six new meet records at La Classique 2022
Montreal, June 5, 2022 - The fourth edition of La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal was once again the scene of several high-level performances. Even with attractive performance bonuses, competition records are increasingly difficult to beat. We nevertheless had the pleasure of seeing six new meet records and several interesting performances by Québec athletes. The men's 100 metres field had great depth and it was Usheoritse Itsekiri from Nigeria, a Tokyo 2021 semi-finalist, who dominated the final of La Classique in 10.09 seconds. Visibly ready for the high level and holder of a personal best of 10.02 seconds, Usheoritse pursues his studies in engineering at the University of Regina.
Another athlete from Saskatchewan achieved quite a feat in the women's 100 meters hurdles: Michelle Harrison first clocked 12.94 seconds in the B final, then did even better in the main final by equaling her personal best at 12.89 seconds, subtracting 32 hundredths of a second from the mark held by Jade Barber (13.21) since 2018. A third La Classique record was smashed by American Trevor Bassitt in the 400m hurdles. Fresh off the NCAA Division II title championships with a time of 48.98, Bassitt began his post-college career with an effort of 49.84 in Montréal. The somewhat windy conditions suggest that he could do much better during the season.
Alex Dupont had also just arrived from Europe and despite the widespread doubts about the speed of the Claude-Robillard track for wheelchairs, Dupont crossed the 800 meters finish line in 1:40.34, thus lowering Frenchmen Julien Casoli's mark of 1:42.40. Two other competition marks
were achieved in the pole vault. In the women's competition
Canadian record holder Alysha Newman, added to the list
of competitors 72 hours before the competition, leaped
4.35 meters before stopping when the bar was raised at
4.50 meters. On the men's side, Nathan Filipek and Daniel
Gleason cleared 5.30 meters to better the previous record
(5.25m) and it was finally Filipek who was declared winner
after counting attempts.
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The Québec athletes, rarely confronted with such a level of
competition at home, responded well. Audrey Leduc, from
the Gatineau athletics club, caused a nice surprise, winning
the women's 100 metres final in 11.36, clocked with a light
favorable wind. Leduc has shown that she belongs with the
Canadian sprint elite and a victory like this one at the
Classic could inspire her with great confidence for the rest of the season.
In the middle distance events, Simone Plourde (Saint-Laurent Sélect) and Thomas Fafard (C.A. de l'Université Laval) won their 1500 metres, Plourde with a personal best of 4:15.53 and Fafard in 3:42.01. Several other Quebec athletes took advantage of this rare opportunity offered to improve their personal bests. A complete report of the competition, signed Félix-Antoine Lapointe, has been published on the FQA website.
La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal, organized in cooperation with Club d'athlétisme Saint-Laurent Seélect, has once again fulfilled its promises for the development of Québec and Canadian athletics. Despite major logistical pitfalls, we are thinking here of the renovation of the stands of the Complexe and the complete closure of the esplanade, as well as an early date on the calendar, we can congratulate the entire volunteer team for an excellent competition.
See you next year!
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Busy night for Aiyanna Stiverne, winning the women's Elite 4000m iin 53.39 sec, then coming 2nd in the 200m in 23.72 sec.
Photo Antoine Saito
Sixteen meet records, 1 national record, two olympic qualifcations, mission accomplished!
Montréal, June 29 2021 - Sixteen competition records, two automatic Olympic standards (Crystal Emmanuel 11.11 in the 100m and Regan Yee 9:27.54 in the 3000m steeplechase), a Canadian record in the women's 3000m steeplechase (Regan Yee), and four others qualified (Alicia Brown, 4x400m relay; Alycia Butterworth, 3000m steeplechase; Madeleine Kelly, 800m; Noelle Montcalm, 400m hurdles). We can say "mission accomplished" and a big thank you to the officials and volunteers who contributed to the success of La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal 2021.
In addition to these competition records and tremendous performances by the athletes, the organizing committee is proud to have been chosen as the stadium competition par excellence at the FQA Gala Athlètas in November 2021. Thanks to our devoted team of volunteers supervised by the Club d'athlétisme Saint-Laurent Sélect.
The Montreal Athletics Classic was also the best Canadian competition in the World Athletics world rankings for overall quality of results. At the end of 2021, the Classic was indeed ranked 94th in the world by the international federation's "competition performance rankings".
Carried out in the context of a pandemic, the committee was able to put in place safe sanitary conditions for all participants. Despite the still complex pandemic situation, we are optimistic that the Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal will continue to progress over the next few years.
World Athletics points at stake
January 29, 2022 - Classified in category D by World Athletics, the 2022 Montreal Athletics Classic will allow participating athletes to accumulate valuable points for their world ranking and qualification for the World Athletics World Championships. Here are the score tables by rank for the events contested during the Classic.
Ville de Montréal, a vital partner
March 1, 2023 - We are pleased to announce that Ville de Montréal will support the 2023 edition of La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal. La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal will benefit from a substantial financial support through the city's Sports Events funding program. We are proud to be part of the Montréal sporting scene, bringing athletes from Canada, USA and hopefully more countries in the future.
This partnership with Ville de Montréal also includes a preferential use of the outstanding Claude-Robillard athletics complex for the event.
La Fondation Philippe-Laheurte supports high performance at La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal
March 1, 2022 - As it has done in the past 28 years, the Philippe-Laheurte Foundation will continue to support high performance at the Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal. Since its inception after the tragic death of Québec track star Philippe Laheurte in 1991, the Foundation has supported athletes and events with bursaries and funding for high performance meets and training camps of Québec's most promising athletes.
Mr. Benoit Leduc, president of the Foundation, former coach to Philippe and staff coach at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games and many World Cross country championship teams, hopes the lasting involvement of the foundation will help local athletes reach their goals.
''In the past nine years, the Philippe-Laheurte Foundation has supported FQA's projects such as the Québec/Ontario Midget indoor dual meet, Québec provincial team at National cross-country championships and the Québec athletes annual European tours, said Mr. Leduc. We are here for the athletes. Our support for La Classique is totally in line with our mission''.
Action Sport Physio provides sports therapy services for Classique competitors
March 1, 2022 - We are pleased to have Action Sport Physio as one of our athlete services partner. Action Sport Physio will provide sports therapy services for our Elite athletes competing at the Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal. Action Sport Physio is Québec's largest network of physiotherapy and sports medicine clinics.