It’s the last day of the Lima 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships and Team Canada did what every coach tells every athlete. They finished strong.

The women’s 1500 metre final was a physical battle, with tightly-packed racers running shoulder to shoulder, and foot by foot, from the starting gun to the finish line. As the pack approached the start of the last lap, a small pack of three racers broke away, slowly pulling away from everyone else. Ethiopia’s Saron Berhe flew away, with Canada’s Rachel Forsyth and Germany’s Jolanda Kallabis in tow. By the time that lead trio rounded the last corner for the last 100 metres, the order was determined. Berhe had gold locked up and silver was coming north with Forsyth to Canada.

“It was awesome. It started out pretty congested, but I knew that if I could make my way around, I could kick pretty hard at the end, so I’m happy with it,” Forsyth said.

Forsyth Kicks Late to Score Silver

The Canadian team also shined in the women’s 4x100 metre relay, earning a bronze medal. The team of Savannah Blair, Dianna Proctor, Ashley Odiase and Roxane Tedga finished with a season’s best time of 44.60 seconds.

Women’s Relay Team Take Bronze

Proctor leaves Lima with two U20 Worlds medals, adding this one to the silver medal she earned in the women’s 400 metres earlier this week. Originally, Team Canada finished a strong 4th place, but a disqualification to Australia moved the Canadian squad onto the podium. Amidst the chaos of relay racing, a series of strong runs and smooth transitions allowed the Canadian quartet to hang with the fastest teams in the world. The team was so in sync that they even shared duties talking about their medal performance:

“We just finished our 4x100 metre final and we thought we finished 4th!” Proctor said.

“But we got 3rd!” Odiase continued.

“And we got another season best!” Tedga said.

“We came in ranked 6th and we beat the odds and came in 3rd!” Blair concluded.

“Go Canada!” they all said in unison.

As a team.

The women’s triple jump final saw Asia Phillips put on a last-minute performance. After five grueling rounds, most competitors were fizzling out. Phillips put on her best attempt yet, flying 13.31 metres into the pit, but landing just short of the bronze medal position, and settling for a strong 4th place finish to cap off Team Canada’s events at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

Phillips Saves Her Best for Last

Lima 2024 By The Numbers

Team Canada rocked the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships. Over five days of competition, the team won three medals (2 silver, 1 bronze) and two more athletes finished 4th. Two Canadian athletes set new personal bests. Six Canadians earned top-8 finishes this week.

Medals:

• Silver: Rachel Forsyth (Women’s 1500m), Dianna Proctor (Women’s 400m)
• Bronze: Savannah Blair, Dianna Proctor, Ashley Odiase and Roxane Tedga (Women’s 4x100m Relay)

Personal Bests:

• Dianna Proctor (Women’s 400m, 200m)
• John O’Reilly (Men’s 800m)

Top 8:

• Asia Phillips (Women’s Triple Jump)
• John O’Reilly (Men’s 800m)
• Rachel Forsyth (Women’s 1500m)
• Savannah Blair, Dianna Proctor, Ashley Odiase and Roxane Tedga (Women’s 4x100m Relay)

Edmonton’s Dianna Proctor has torn up the track with not one, not two, but three personal bests (in two days) to earn herself a silver medal at the U20 World Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru. Coming into the competition with a best time of 52.93 seconds, the 400m sprinter took second in the final on Thursday with a flashy new lifetime best of 51.98.

In Wednesday’s 400m heats, the 19-year-old ran the third-fastest overall time, clocking 52.73 to improve her lifetime best by two-tenths of a second to earn an auto-qualifying spot to the semi-final. That new personal best stood for less than seven hours, as she dominantly won her semi-final, crossing the line in 52.59, a tenth of a second ahead of the second runner. In Thursday’s final, Proctor came blazing down the final stretch, surging from sixth to second in the final 100m to improve her new personal best by more than half a second. Her incredible performance now leaves her ranked 11th in the world for the U20 discipline. (She came into the competition ranked 26th.) The race marks the fourth-fastest time run by a U20 Canadian in history.

Proctor’s 200m heats also went smoothly on Thursday morning; she clocked 23.70 to place second and advanced to the semi-final alongside Canadian teammate Ashley Odiase, whose 23.94-second run earned her a spot as one of six fastest-time qualifiers. The semis took place Thursday evening, less than two hours before the 400m final; neither of the Canadians advanced.

Toronto’s John O’Reilly also surged to an impressive personal best in Thursday’s 800 semi-final round. The 19-year-old took third in his heat with a time of 1:47.67 to crush his previous best of 1:48.15, and took the first of two fastest-time qualifier spots into the final, which will take place on Friday at 5:35 p.m. ET.

Canadian 1,500m star Rachel Forsyth also earned a big Q straight into her event’s final at the U20 championships. The 18-year-old from London, Ont. ran the second-fastest time of the round, clocking 4:20.85. Forsyth’s personal best stands at 4:17.00; she’ll look to improve on that time to secure a spot on the podium in Saturday’s final. The women’s 1,500m final goes on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Canada’s Next Generation of Track Stars

Exposure to the world stage at a young age has proven successful for many Canadian Olympians, such as Olympic hammer throw champion Ethan Katzberg, indoor 400m record holder Christopher Morales-Williams and Olympic 400m hurdles finalist Savannah Sutherland. On Tuesday, when the 2024 World U20 Championships kick off in Lima, Peru, 27 young Canadian athletes will compete against the next generation of track and field stars. Here are a few athletes to watch.

Canada’s future in middle-distance running is bright, and London, Ont’s Rachel Forsyth will lead the charge in Lima. Forsyth is the reigning U20 national champion in the 1,500m and holds a personal best of 4:17.00, which she set at the Ontario Track and Field Championships last month. Her personal best is almost eight seconds below the world U20 qualifying standard of 4:24.80. The 18-year-old, who will be beginning her NCAA career with Michigan State University in the fall, will begin her U20 championship campaign in the heats of the women’s 1,500m on Aug. 28.

Edmonton’s Dianna Proctor will be competing in an impressive sprint double. The 19-year-old boasts personal bests of 23.30 seconds in the 200m and 52.93 seconds for 400m, easily earning her 30th- and 26th-place U20 world rankings, respectively–the highest rankings in a track event on the team. Proctor opens up her competition on Aug. 28 in the 400m heats, with the 200m heats on Thursday, Aug. 29.

Barrie, Ont.’s Kyla Martin has been on fire this 2024 season in the women’s 800m event. The 18-year-old is coming into the U20 competition with a 35th-place U20 world ranking, kudos to her 2:05.15 personal best, which she ran in July at Toronto’s 800m night. Martin, who just completed her first year at the University of Utah, begins her competition on Aug. 27.

One of the top up-and-coming Canadian middle-distance talents is 19-year-old John O’Reilly of Toronto. O’Reilly secured a U20 championship spot in the men’s 800m with his 1:48.15 personal best at the Royal City Inferno in June. The University of Michigan star will begin his competition in Lima on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

The 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships will be held in Lima, Peru, from Aug. 27 to Aug. 31. This marks the first time a World Athletics event is hosted in Peru, with more than 1,700 athletes from 134 countries set to compete​. Results can be found here. The event will be streamed live worldwide for free on the World Athletics website. You can watch the live stream on World Athletics Inside Track. (To watch the live stream on the World Athletics website, you’ll need to register for a free account.)