After years of injuries, mental health challenges, and tough financial decisions, Alexandra Telford is beating the odds and breaking records in the track and field world.
Half of her life has been spent on the track, which in reality means 13 years of extreme sacrifice and perseverance for Telford.
26-year-old Telford is a high-performance track athlete striding to make a Canadian National Team in the next three years. Amidst her competition, she recently graduated from Carleton University with her master's in architectural design.
She has not had an easy ride to her successes.
She began running with the Ottawa Lions Track Club at the age of 13, years later competed in U-Sports with Carleton, and now she is getting a taste of competing with the Canadian Track and Field League after being drafted in the first round.
With roughly 30 hours of training a week and sponsorships being hard to come by, Telford has had to make financial sacrifices to keep her success alive.
“Money has definitely been a big factor and I think I underestimated how tricky it would be to lose that independence that you feel when you’re working full time, and in the end, I was fortunate enough to be able to move back home with my parents,” said Telford.
After finishing her undergrad in 2018, she began working in her field at a firm for 15 months before returning to Carleton to complete her Masters during COVID-19. For Telford, the timing was a blessing in disguise as the virtual lifestyle allowed her to train more and recover from her previous concussions.
In 2021, she was drafted first overall in the CTFL right after her final U-Sport competition.
“I was feeling very proud of myself, and my hard work has paid off and it's being recognized by people who don't owe me anything but drafted me to their team,” said Telford after discovering the results.
Her goal is to compete and represent Canada internationally between 2024-2026.
“You're putting in the same amount of effort but all you have is your progress to look at,” said Telford. “It’s not good for your self-esteem to put that much energy into something and not feel like you are being compensated for it.”
Telford explained that she understands why track is not profitable compared to other team sports as she trains for races that are less than a minute, but, it is a sport where people need to invest in the athletes and their stories.
“It still feels like your journey but then you can't help but feel the expectations of the people that have kind of opened up to support you, so when it comes to things like a bad training week or bad race, suddenly your thinking I’m disappointed but now all the people invested in this journey, what are they going to think?”
Admittedly, Telford underestimated the sacrifice required to be a female track athlete in her mid-twenties fighting for a chance on the world stage.
“It seems like a point in time that finding a solid job and having a good chunk of savings seems like the smart thing to do so it sort of makes you question when you have those down weeks and good weeks, is this a good idea?”
This season, Telford has steered clear of major injuries and is hitting personal bests so by hitting these goals right now, she knows she is still making the right decision to continue forward in the sport.
So far, she has competed in Boston, California, Portland, Ottawa, Windsor, Belgium and British Columbia this season.
In Belgium on July 12th, Telford hit a new personal best finishing in 53.79 seconds in the 400m.
At nationals in Langley, BC at the end of July, she came fourth in the women's 400m hurdles with another personal best of 58.51 seconds and came first in the women's 4x400m at 3:50.18 minutes.
She is continuously breaking barriers and going against all odds - she is an inspiration for younger athletes following in her path.
“Every so often, I’ll get a few middle school and high school kids that have been following my university racing and they will reach out to me for advice on track meets,” said Telford.
She says she cannot commit to giving back to her community in the ways she wishes right now due to her intense schedule, but she looks forward to the day she can.
To finish off this record-breaking season, Telford’s mixed 4x400m group ran a Canadian club record of 3:30 minutes in Ottawa on Aug. 16.
Up next on Telford’s agenda: the 2024 Paris Olympics?
]]>By: Nkele Martin
On Aug. 5, the Canadian Track and Field League closed out its second season with the championship meet in Ottawa. 104 CTFL athletes competed in the final meet of the season which ended with the Spitfires retaining their lead and becoming the 2023 CTFL champions. As the season came to an end, founder and CEO Quinn Lyness felt the same as he did at the beginning of the season, filled with hope.
“If I were to describe it [the season] in one word, it would be hopeful,” he said. “Hopeful for what was to come and then hopeful for what is to come now.”
Hope can only take you so far, however, so Lyness had to do what he knows best, work hard.
Going into its second season, the CEO was preparing for a season featuring more athletes, a bigger budget, and an increased prize fund. After a successful inaugural season, the CTFL quickly became a well-known league in the Canadian track and field world, and instead of searching for athletes to join, he was managing the registrations that were flowing in.
“Heading into year two, everyone who is anybody knows about the Canadian Track and Field League,” he said. “If you're an athlete, the likelihood is that you have a teammate that's already competing in it.”
After its first season, the number of athletes in the CTFL jumped from 128 to 232. An increase of athletes meant an increase in work for Lyness, who had a majority of the responsibility fall on him. The 23-year-old said he found himself managing “everything.”
“[I was looking after] all the facets of the business, and then just trying to do day-to-day things as well. I have to be big picture and also very fine details. We have standings updates, the administrative side of things, the marketing side of things, which, included in that is social media. It was quite difficult,” he said.
To manage the growing league, Lyness had to expand his team. He took on fellow track athletes in administrative and creative roles that ranged from updating standings to shooting and editing content.
The growth of the league was undoubtedly a good sign for Lyness, and he felt more prepared for the second season than the first. “Last year there was a lot of uncertainty, like ‘would it even work?’” he said. “[This year] we already had the system in place, so it was a much easier season on me. I'm not growing any more gray hair this season.”
Despite having a system in place for year two, the season did not come and go without any challenges, the biggest of which involved the official CTFL singlets. The league partnered with track and field giants New Balance for the season, and the singlets featured new designs and sponsorship logos.
Prior to the commencement of the season, the CTFL created buzz on social media about the singlets, but it would take some time for them to be seen on the track.
According to Lyness, the singlets were supposed to be shipped a month before the first meet but, due to logistical issues, they did not arrive before the season kicked off in Calgary. Lyness was left with no choice but to send over singlets from the previous season. In the end, only a few CTFL athletes ended up participating in the meet, meaning the short-notice shipment of singlets from Ontario to Alberta was an unnecessary financial burden on the young league.
For the following London, Ont. and Montreal meets, the singlets still had not arrived. The only available singlets were all black. When Lyness received that information, he decided to take matters into his own hands, printing singlets himself.
“I had to print, like, a hundred something singlets by myself in my basement, printing the CTFL logo, the sponsorship logo, and the team logo. Thank goodness I had extra team logos from last season because I did not have time to order any for this coming season,” he said.
More than the representation of the league and distinguishing teams, the absence of new singlets through the first few meets threatened the leagues sponsorship partners. Sponsorship makes up a large part of the leagues revenue and if the agreed upon requirements aren't met, sponsors can get cold feet.
“That's where the business goes belly up,” said Lyness.
The new singlets finally arrived just before the fourth preliminary meet in Guelph, Ont., more than halfway through the season.
When that problem was solved, another arose.
Some athletes, when provided with their singlets, chose not wear them in the meets. Lyness said that participating in CTFL meets without representing the league was a “bad look,” and he aims to prohibit athletes from doing so next season.
“We've come up with rules now that will be enforced next season, where your time just won't count if you're not wearing a CTFL singlet at the pre-meet for your event,” he said.
To Lyness, despite the roadblocks, the CTFL season was successful. Athletes competed in preliminary meets across the country, setting numerous records. Their times - along with marks from external meets - were ranked and varying points were given to their team depending on their rank. The top eight athletes in each event qualified for the CTFL championship where they could compete for monetary prizes and earn more points for their team. This season, the Spitfires won the league, flying high above their opponents with 1824 points. The Bears (1633) came second, Huskies (1562) third and Arctics (1553) fourth.
The CTFL’s second season was quite different from the first, and that was no accident. Lyness said that after the first season, there were aspects of the league he wanted to see change, and he decided to work to change them.
One of the most important, Lyness said, was creating an environment that would foster both connections between athletes and team loyalty. In the first year, athletes would cheer for and socialize with friends and members of the same track club but this year, there was much more camaraderie between athletes.
“This year, you're getting more involved. [Even] if you're less associated, you're cheering your team,” he said. “At the final we did a 4x200m and that brought the teams together a lot, you were repping your team, everyone was cheering you on. That was kind of what we were missing a little bit last season.”
The league also inherited a whole new standings system, which Lyness said that he enjoyed, but will take some time to be easily understood by all. “I think a lot of people had fun with [the standings,] but we need to explain it a little bit better… I think people will just learn as they get into it,” he said.
The CTFL saw substantial changes from year one and with a bigger budget going into the league's third year, Lyness hopes the league will continue to change. Next season, fans can expect the prize fund to be doubled to between $30,000 to $50,000 dollars, according to Lyness. With the larger prize fund, Lyness says the league is aiming to attract more star power.
“If they [high level athletes] are staying in Canada, they will make the CTFL a priority for them to compete at. That means a higher level of competition,” he said.
There will be an increase of points earned in the finals, too. Lyness says the league will be doubling the amount of points that each athlete can win for their team in the finals, which will make them more important to attend as the results could have an impact on the standings.
The league will also look to ramp up its content creation in the third season. This season, the CTFL published races, interviews and the “Metre-By-Metre” series - focusing on the lives of individual athletes - on both YouTube and Instagram this season. In addition, athletes became involved with content creation. As part of their Athlete Content Creation Program, the CTFL offered $500 dollars to the athlete with the best video recap of their season. Beyond the ACCP, the league stated on its website that it was willing to allocate resources to help athletes with their content creation.
Next year, Lyness says the league is going to increase and diversify its content with livestreams and more. Increasing its content creation is of extreme importance to the CEO, who believes it will help the league grow exponentially. “We're gonna be producing a lot more content, day in the lives, all those kinds of things for the athletes. I think a lot more in-depth coverage is gonna be something that fans will be able to look forward to,” he said. If we're creating that good content, more investing will be done through the CTFL, more sponsorships and stuff, more revenue for the league, and that's when we can start paying the athletes more.
With the implementation of many changes, Lyness believes that the CTFL’s second season will be looked at as a “tipping point.” In its first season, the CEO said he was uncertain about how his system would work, but after two years he says he is confident that the league is sustainable. As Lyness put it in a CTFL update video posted on Instagram, “it’s no longer struggle season.”
With each season being more lucrative than the last, Lyness hopes to soon commit himself full-time to the league and its development.
“These next few seasons will set the league up to be something that will last for decades to come potentially,” he said. “Hopefully I'll be able to take a salary next season, because I will commit to trying to get that $30,000 for the athlete prize fund, which then means that I'm allowing myself to get paid. Once we get to that point, then I can work on it for the rest of my life and also hire people to assist in growing the league.
The rapid growth of the league has not gone unnoticed, and established individuals in the track community have been reaching out to the young CEO. Recently, Lyness had a meeting with a world athletics ambassador based in the United Kingdom who wanted to see a similar league developed in their country. The ambassador was seeking Lyness’s advice and opinion on the possibility of implementing a CTFL-style system into the United Kingdom’s track atmosphere.
Lyness, two seasons in, seems to have found a successful formula within the track and field world. With the season over, he is now looking to the future, and remains hopeful.
“This is the start of something that could potentially take over the world and really elevate track and field,” he said. “Even if I'm not the one to do it, this is the thing that is going to lay the groundwork for everyone else to follow.”
]]>Athletes are ranked based on points earned from CTFL preliminary meet marks, free marks, and bonus points for attending meets. Runners in first place may not necessarily have the fastest time in their event, just the most points between their marks. See this link for more information.
With one race left, anything can happen. Upsets and unexpected results are inevitable.
Mens
This race promises to be tight, as less than three seconds divides the best times of leader Alanzo Ryan from eighth-placed Michael Petersen. Ryan, who ran his personal best of 1:49.30 this year at the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival in Guelph, Ont. is the only runner in the division with a sub-1:50 time. He is followed closely by second place the Arctics’ Adam Schmidt, who recorded a time of 1:50.01 at the same meet. As only two of the following six runners have marks over 1:52, there will be little room for error for Ryan and Schmidt if they hope to be champion.
Womens
Spitfires’ Sydney Smith leads the division with 50 points, placing first in both the preliminary and free mark. This season, Smith ran her personal best of 2:03.76. She was also part of the 2022 National Champion 4x400m team which featured CTFL athletes Alexandra Telford, Doyin Ogunremi and Lauren Gale. In second place is Bears Sadie-Jane Hickson, who has a free mark of 2:04.88 and a preliminary mark of 2:04.84. Although both of Smith's marks were faster, it is very possible for Hickson to come out victorious. Behind Hickson, there is a four second drop off to third place, eight seconds to fourth and sixteen seconds to fifth.
Mens
This division had the most exciting finish of the season at the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival in which Alec Purnell (Huskies) and Simon Berube (Bears) crossed the finish line within 0.01 seconds of each other. The race was decisive, and without his marginal win, Purnell would have lost his leading spot to second-placed Berube. It is unlikely that the final race ends in the same spectacular manner, but neither runner is a “lock” to become champion, as bettors would put it. Third-placed Kenya Small of the Huskies is the only other athlete to have recorded a sub-3:45 time, running a 3:43.95 in the race that saw Purnell and Berube finish side-by-side. If Small can shave off one second from his best time, he may be able to secure the championship, but look to Purnell or Berube to cross the finish line first.
Womens
Unfortunately, due to many of the women’s 1500m athletes sustaining injuries while at the Bell Canadian Track and Field Championships in Langley, the CTFL has made the difficult decision to cancel the women's 1500m due to issues with the venue. The remaining athlete Sydney Pattison will compete in the women’s 800m at the championship and is guaranteed to win the women’s 1500m discipline as a result along with the $400 prize.
Mens
Arctics Matthew Lozano leads with 45 points, his fastest time this season being 14:39.75. Second-placed Thomas Laviolette holds the fastest time in the division, running a 14:33.00 at the Canadian Championships on June 21 in Langley, B.C. Despite having the fastest free mark, Laviolette sits in second due to his 14:48.80 preliminary mark, the fourth fastest in the division. As the only sub 14:40 runners, Lozano and Laviolette look likely to compete for the CTFL championship in the men's 5000m. Third-placed Robert Lawand - who ran 14:44.71 - and Fourth-placed Samuel Kinahan - a 14:42.52 - may challenge the frontrunners.
Womens
Spitfires Erin Mawhinney leads the division in both marks, with thirty seconds between her and the second fastest runner. Mahwinney’s time of 16:09.69 was her personal best, and she will try to beat that in the championship. Two runners that may make a push for the title are fifth-placed Becca Brenman (16:41.26) and fourth-placed Elizabeth Vroom (17:06.00).
Mens
Less than one-tenth of a meter separates the three longest jumps in this division, but Huskies Olorunfemi Akinduro has the longest jump (7.38m) and the most points with 42. Joshua Foster (7.32m) and Eric Che (7.30m) have the closest marks to Akinduro, the 2022 national champion in the triple jump. An athlete to watch out for is sixth-placed Kenneth West, who jumped 7.29m at the Bob Vigar Classic, a CTFL preliminary meet. West has a personal best of 7.36m, the second longest in the division.
Womens
First and second-placed Maria Okwechime and Jasmine Lew are the only athletes in the division to break the six-meter mark, Okwechime with 6.23m and Lew with 6.10m. The two will likely compete for first place, but third-placed Tayah Desousa - whose 5.85m free mark is tied with Okwechime - could prove to be fierce competition.
Mens
With over a one-meter gap between the next athlete, Spitfires Seth Edwards looks like a strong contender for CTFL shot put champion. Edwards won the 2023 Barbadian national championships in the shot put and discus throw, and has a free mark of 16.07m and preliminary mark of 15.54. With dominating distance between him and the competition, Edwards chances of winning once again are likely.
Womens
Spitfires Liv Sands finished the season in first place with 46 points, but did not record the farthest throw this season, that belongs to Arctics Erika Fiedler. Fiedler has a converted 15.28m, compared to Sands’ 14.58m.
]]>With the CTFL championship less than one week away, let's take a look at the final meet of the season. We’ll be looking into each race, talking favourites and dark horses based on statistics.
Athletes are ranked based on points earned from CTFL preliminary meet marks, free marks, and bonus points for attending meets. Runners in first place may not necessarily have the fastest time in their event, just the most points between their marks. See this link for more information.
With one race left, anything can happen. Upsets and unexpected results are inevitable.
Mens
Spitfires Brandon Letts sits in a pretty comfortable lead with 51 points, 14 more than second place Immanuel Onyemah. Letts ran his personal best of 10.22 at the Bob VIgars Classic on May 28, the ninth-fastest 100m run by a Canadian this season. Although his marks are faster than his opponents, Letts’ lead does not guarantee him a first-place finish in the championship race, he will have to deliver another incredible performance. Domenic Barresi (Huskies) is the only other athlete to achieve a sub-10.40 run this season but unfortunately sustained an injury while competing at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Womens
Unlike the men's division, the 100m women's rankings are very close, only two points separate leader Jorden Savoury from her Huskies teammate Kayla Vieux. Savoury - who just recently moved into first place after her teammate’s free mark was beaten - has the fastest free mark in the division at 11.80, but her time is only 0.02 seconds faster than third place Shanice Williams. Savoury finished third in the preliminary mark with a time of 12.03, behind Vieux and fourth place Élodie Baulu. With less than half of a second separating first and sixth place, the title of CTFL 100m women's champion could go to anyone.
Mens
David Adeleye finished the season with 45 points, finishing with the fastest preliminary time (13.92) and the second fastest free mark (14.01). Both of his marks are almost half of a second faster than his competitors. Due to the absence of Craig Thorne, the only athlete to beat his marks this season, Adeleye looks likely to become champion.
Womens
With the top two runners in this division tied with 46 points, the women's 100mH promises to be a good race. Spitfires’ Tyra Boug and Arctics’ Adenike Abiodun both finished first and second in their free and preliminary marks. Boug’s 13.54 preliminary time is faster than Abiodun’s by a fifth of a second, and Abiodun (13.65) has the faster free mark by around a tenth of a second. While Boug’s 2019 personal best of 13.44 is faster than Abiodun’s, it is hard to predict which of the two will come out on top at the CTFL championship.
Mens
200m CTFL record-holder Bertwin Ben-Smith comes into the finals leading the division with 46 points, but, as previously reported, he had fierce competition. The final preliminary meet saw second-place Sebastien Regnier - just three points behind Ben-Smith - miss out on the chance to move into the top spot. Due to a hamstring injury, Regnier has been forced to miss out on the race, leaving Ben-Smith to be the favourite. The race is not guaranteed to be won by the leader, however, as seven out of the eight athletes that will lace up in Ottawa have run sub-22-second times this season. Watch out for Spitfires Kejean Jackson, and Huskies athlete Seiyf Gebara.
Womens
Just one point separates Huskies teammates Tameran Defreitas (41) and Imani Reid (40). Despite being the top runners in their division, the holder of the fastest time is Victoria McIntyre. McIntyre only has an official free mark and sits in fourth with 25 points. McIntyre’s time of 23.77 was her personal best, and the only sub-24-second time in the division. The three aforementioned runners will come together for the final race, in which only one can win.
Mens
Arctics Michael Roth leads with 50 points and almost a one second gap between his marks and the next fastest runner in the division. Roth, who placed seventh at the U20 World Championships in 2021, ran his personal best of 45.82 on July 21 at the NACAC U23 Championships in San José, Costa Rica. Roth’s time is currently the third fastest 400m in Canada this season. Second and third-placed Tyler Cox-Yestrau and his Spitfires teammate Tyler Harper are the only two runners - besides Roth - to record sub-47-second times this season and will look to upset the dominant Roth with a strong showing in Ottawa.
Womens
Another Arctics athlete in Favour Okpali leads the women's division. Okpali, just like her teammate Roth, sits atop the standings with 50 points, meaning she holds the fastest preliminary and free mark. Okpali is the only athlete to record a sub-56-second time this season, running a 55.54 at the Bob Vigars classic, a CTFL preliminary meet. Okpali will face off against second-placed Doyin Ogunremi of the Bears, a national champion. Ogunremi won the 2022 National Championship in the 4x400m relay, and has a faster personal best than Okpali, running a 55.18 in the same year she won the championship. With her best run of the 2023 season being 56.16, Ogunremi will need to return to her 2022 form to win the CTFL championship. Sixth-placed Sophie Ba of the Huskies is one to watch out for, too, running a 55.22 in 2022. This season, the Huskies runner has a best time of 56.74.
Mens
Olympian Roxroy Cato has a commanding lead, as a three second gap separates him from second-placed Joshua Adhémar. The Bears athlete, ranked 49 in the world by World Athletics, is the obvious favourite to win the championship. Behind Cato, the order is hard to predict, as the second to fifth fastest runners are less than one second apart. Bears David Moulongou has the fastest time of the four athletes at 52.52, but Adhémar, and Arctics teammates Saj Haddad and Oliver Grant are not far behind.
Womens
Leader Alexandra Telford has nine seconds on the marks of second-placed Stephanie Leask. The Arctics athlete was a part of the same National Championship-winning 4x400m relay team as Bears 400m runner Doyin Ogunremi. Telford ran her personal best of 58.74 this season, and if she can run a race in line with her impressive form, she will surely be CTFL champion. In a division where only four runners recorded marks, Leask of the Huskies and Spitfires’ Sierra Sweeney look likely to compete for second. Leask has the faster marks, but Sweeny is less than one second behind.
]]>At the final preliminary meet of the Canadian Track and Field League, in Ottawa, on July 5, first and second-place 200m athletes Bertwin Ben-Smith and Sebastien Regnier ran identical races.
Ben-Smith (Bears) and Regnier (Arctics) were the top two runners in the men’s 200m division with just three points separating them coming into the final meet. Ben-Smith led the division with 43 points, but Regnier only needed to run 21.81, 0.02 seconds faster than his previous preliminary time, to take the lead.
The day before the race, Regnier was confident that he could beat that time, having run his best ever time of 21.58 just two weeks before at the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor, Ont.
“[Hopefully I’ll] be in first tomorrow evening after the race,” he said.
Despite being in different heats, both athletes ran a 21.86 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility. According to the Ottawa Lions results, Ben-Smith edged out his competitor by 0.007 seconds.
As a result of their times, Ben-Smith remains in first place with 46 points and Regnier sits just behind him with 43. With no more preliminary meets left in the CTFL season, Regnier will be unable to move into first as the athletes head into the championship unless another runner beats Ben-Smith's free mark time of 21.78 by the Championship.
The two will have the chance to compete head-to-head at the CTFL Championships on Aug 5, in Ottawa.
Notable Performances
Jonelle Halog (Huskies), who was fighting multiple runners for a spot in the CTFL championship, won the men’s 100m finals and moved from 7th to 5th in the division with a season's best of 10.72 (+ 1.2). Utility athlete Lauren Gale (Arctics) won the women's 200m with a time of 23.48 (+0.7), her second fastest of the season.
Quinn Coughlin (Bears), Alexander Collins (Spitfires), Saj Alhaddad (Arctics) , Bryson Patterson-Blasse (Bears), Audrey Goddard (Spitfires) Maria Okwechime (Spitfires) and Brianna Asiamah (Bears) also won their respective events at the meet.
After the final prelim meet, the Spitfires retain a comfortable lead with 1,431 total points and the Arctics remain in second with 1,215 points. The Bears rose into third with 1,199 points, with the Huskies falling to last place with 1,179 points.
Athletes have until July 17 to improve upon their free mark, gain points for their team and possibly claim a spot in the CTFL championships on Aug. 5, in Ottawa.
]]>On July 5, CTFL athletes will be competing in the Ottawa Twilight meet, the leagues final preliminary meet of the season. The event is stacking up to be decisive for the mens 200m event, with first and second place runners Bertwin Ben-Smith (Bears) Sebastien Regnier (Arctics) sitting just three points apart.
Currently, Ben-Smith leads the division with 45 total points, 25 for his CTFL record-setting preliminary run of 21.66 and 20 points for having the second fastest free mark time. Regnier has a total of 42 points, 25 for the fastest free mark time of the season, 21.58 and 16 points for his third place preliminary mark.
In order to move into first place, Regnier will only need to beat his preliminary time of 21.83 by 0.02 seconds, which would put him ahead of Spitfires’ Kejean Jackson. With three points separating the two, the final race of the CTFL regular season will decide who leads the men's 200m division ahead of the championship.
Ben-Smith is coming off an impressive outdoor season which saw him break the CTFL record for the men's 200m. “I think my outdoor season is going quite well. I've never opened faster in any outdoor season in the 200m, but I still have some ways to go,” he said.
Regnier has had a successful season, too, although it began somewhat slowly. Regnier says he was training well, but couldn’t execute in his first few races. At the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor, Ont., Regnier says it all came together, and he ran a personal best of 21.58 seconds.
Now, with one race left in the CTFL regular season, Regnier has the chance to move into first place in the men's 200m division. “It’s encouraging to see that [ I am highly ranked], especially since my season hasn’t exactly gone to plan,” he said.
Since Ben-Smith already has the fastest preliminary time, he is unable to gain any more points from the race. This means that the standings will be decided by Regnier’s time.
With the fate of first place out of his hands, Ben-Smith says he is not nervous.
“I'm not worried about Sebastien's time, I'm just focusing on myself and what I can bring to the table. In terms of what I know that I can do and bring to the table, I'm more nervous about putting down a good time for myself with the heat tomorrow,” he said. “It [the circumstance of the race] is kind of annoying, but that just means I have to run that much faster. It makes it more exciting at the end of the day,” he said.
Regnier said he, too, was not feeling nervous, instead, he was excited for the race. In what may be his final competitive track and field season, he is focusing on enjoying his time on the track. “This is probably my last season running competitively…. I’m just trying to leave it all out there and have as much fun as I possibly can,” he said.
Regnier is looking forward to possibly lining up beside Ben-Smith on the track. “Being able to compete against someone…. Being close to each other with [our] times and points is obviously exciting. It’ll elevate the competition,” he said.
It is hard to predict the outcome of the race, but if Regnier can come close to his recent personal best, he can move into first place ahead of the CTFL championship.
Regardless of the outcome of the race, both runners have already solidified their spot in the CTFL championship and will look to take home the CTFL gold - and the cash prize - on Aug. 5.
The final preliminary race is set to take place at 8 p.m. on July 5, at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in Ottawa, Ont.
]]>As the CTFL season draws closer to an end, its athletes are beginning to heat up. On June 21, the aptly named Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival yielded some fiery results.
Athletes and supporters arrived at the Guelph University Alumni Stadium on the Wednesday, and races began at 6:30 p.m. 85 CTFL athletes from all four teams competed at the festival, the second last of the leagues’ preliminary meets.
Bears athlete and Olympian Roxroy Cato started the meet strong, winning the first race of the evening with a 49.55 in the men's 400m hurdles.
Despite many impressive runs from CTFL athletes, the highlight of the day was the finals of women's 800m and men's 1500m which saw Alec Purnell (Huskies) and Jazz Shukla (Spitfires) take first place.
The women's 800m final was arguably the most anticipated race of the meet, featuring Olympians Lucia Stafford and Madeleine Kelly. 20 runners lined up beside Shukla who started in lane six.
During the first lap, Shukla stayed - comfortably - in the middle of the pack, and began to make a push on the outside of her competitors around the 400m mark. During the second lap, the U20 World Championships bronze medalist came to life, moving up on the shoulder and establishing herself in second, just behind Stafford. The crowd erupted as the runners came on to the final straightaway, but Shukla remained in second. With just 50m left, Stafford began to lose ground and the Spitfires athlete crept up behind her. Shukla narrowly edged out a victory over the Olympian, finishing with a time of 2:01.43 to Stafford’s 2:01.63.
Shukla’s impressive time broke the meet record set by Olympian and Huskies ambassador Melissa Bishop-Nriagu in 2021.
The mens 1500m final began shortly after Shukla’s victory, and excitement was still in the air, but no one could’ve predicted what was to come.
Purnell - similar to Shukla - began the race around the middle of the pack. Just after the 800m mark, he moved up to fourth place, behind his Huskies teammates Kenya Small and Andrew Peverill. At 1200m, Peverill, Purnell and Santiago Gaitan of Southern Utah University had split off from the rest of the runners. With around 200m to go, Arctics runner Simon Berube emerged from behind and joined the front three runners. Coming out of the final corner, Purnell took the outside and overtook his Peverill in first place. As Purnell pushed past those in front of him and barreled towards the finish line, so did Berube.
Berube gained on Purnell and with less than 30m to go in the race, the runners were side-by-side. Both athlete’s could not cut loose from the other, as their strides were nearly identical coming up to the finish line.
The excitement from the crowd was audible as they crossed the finish line. Moments after the two athletes finished, all eyes turned to the timing board, they were too close for the naked eye to tell who won. When the times were displayed, Berube finished with a time of 3:42.75, while Purnell ran 3:42.74. The race ended in true photo-finish style, as 0.01 seconds separated the two.
Although Purnell did not break the meet record with his run, it was undoubtedly the most exciting race of the evening.
Alongside already mentioned Cato, Purnell and Shukla, four other CTFL athletes placed first in the finals of their events. Michael Roth (Arctics) won the mens 400m with a time of 46.07, Usheoritse Itsekiri (Bears) continued his streak of impressive runs with a 10.05 100m, Liam Mather (Spitfires) took the men's 110m hurdles, running 14.20 and Sarah Mitton (Bears) won the women's shot put with a 19.09m throw.
With one meet to go, the Spitfires continue to sit atop the CTFL standings with 1337 points. The Arctics (1190 points) are in second place, followed by the Huskies (1146 points) and then the Bears (1130).
CTFL athletes will come together to compete in the Ottawa Twilight meet on July 5 with the hopes of qualifying for the championship exactly one month later on Aug. 5.
In its second year, the CTFL has grown from 128 to 232 athletes. The league features former Olympians, national champions and various Canadian record holders. Halfway through its 2023 season, CTFL athletes have seen huge success, such as Usheoritse Itsekiri, who ran the fastest 100m on Canadian soil with a time of 10.02 (+1.4). 2007-born Timeo Atonfo, Quinn Coughlin and Grace Streek will be competing against some of these superstars this season.
To put this into perspective, when 18 year-old Huskies long jumper Jonathan Balogun recorded 5.99m at the Sherwood Park Track Classic in 2012, Atonfo - who he will be competing against this season - was just four years old.
At 15 years-old, Atonfo is the league's youngest athlete. He began competing in track and field events in the fifth grade, immediately excelling due to his raw talent.
“I was naturally gifted [with speed],” he said.
Competing in the long jump this season, Atonfo is also an elite runner in the 100m and 200m for his Ottawa high school, Gisèle-Lalonde.
Despite competing for many years, Atonfo said he began taking the sport more seriously during the 2021-2022 school year and decided to join the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club that summer. Before joining the club, Atonfo said his training was done alone and consisted mainly of exercises he found online.
“I thought I was jumping pretty good, but my technique was horrendous,” he said. “With the help of my coaches, it's been getting better. I’ve seen a massive improvement in my personal bests.”
During the 2022 OFSAA championships he excelled, taking home the gold medal in the 300m hurdles and a silver in the 100m hurdles.
Fellow Ottawa Lions Coughlin and Streek - similar to Atonfo - both said that their ninth-grade year saw them take their sport more seriously, which yielded positive results. Coughlin placed second in the 400m at the OFSAA championships, Streek third in the 5k cross country championships.
To CTFL founder and CEO Quinn Lyness, the entry of athletes this young came as a surprise.
Lyness, 23, said he believes the league can provide immense benefits to young runners, especially Atonfo, Coughlin and Streek.
“Now they’re competing against university athletes head to head [instead of] in different divisions,” he said. “It’s a really good opportunity for these young superstars because now they have access. They would’ve never had that kind of access to all these athletes.”
Learning from some of the countries’ best athletes excites the young Atonfo, who said, “I know I’m the youngest, so [I hope] I can learn from all the other athletes and take all the knowledge I can in.”
The league, which had its first meet on May 13, features four teams - the Bears, Huskies, Arctics and Spitfires - who are competing for the CTFL championship. Each athlete has three attempts, called “marks” to gain points for their team.
Coincidentally, the three athletes are all teammates, competing for the Bears this season.
Although they all see this opportunity as a great learning experience, the three youngsters know that the CTFL season is going to be challenging.
For Streek, who primarily runs cross country, this season will bring an extra challenge. She will be running the 5,000m, an event that is new to her.
“I’ve never really raced the 5k on a track,” she said. “That was our cross country distance for this year, but I’ve never run it flat. Only with hills.”
Just last month, Streek was slowed down by a knee injury which caused her to take five weeks off. Able to train once again, she says she is doing everything she can to be ready for her first CTFL race on July 5.
Streek says the pedigree of her opponents is slightly intimidating, opponents such as utility athlete Julie-Anne Staehli, an olympian who placed 32nd in the 5,000m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It feels a lot bigger than racing at that point,” she said.
Streek’s friend and teammate Coughlin, while nervous, is feeling optimistic about the season.
“I’m not overly intimidated. I’m going to go and do my thing, and have fun with it,” she said. “I’m just trying to turn my nerves into excitement.”
A huge fan of track and field, Coughlin began supporting the Bears during the league's inaugural season. “They started doing well early in the season so I was like ‘okay, this is definitely the team I’m going to really like,’” she said.
One year later, she was drafted by them.
Competing in the 400m, Coughlin will look to beat her best time of 56.77 set on June 8, 2023 at the 2023 OFSAA championships.
In their first season, the athletes are hoping to succeed amongst fierce competition. Coughlin will be competing against the Artics’ Lauren Gale, a member of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 4x400m relay pool. Coughlin called Gale, along with Huskies ambassador Melissa Bishop-Nriagu some of her idols in the sport.
One month before their first CTFL preliminary meet in Ottawa, the teammates are hoping to achieve the goals they made for the season.
For Coughlin, “just [to] be up with the girls in front would be really nice,” she said.
“I’m hoping for a personal best for time, right now I have 18:10 as my best.” Streek said. “Also, to qualify for championships… And just to feel good with the season, not have my knee be reinjured and just have fun.”
Atonfo said he is looking to break seven-metres in the long jump, as he is the only long jumper who has yet to reach that length. “It’s going to be a great environment to get a good PB,” he said. “I’m just going to compete and show them what I can do.”
Founder and CEO Lyness said that young athlete’s participation is beneficial to the league, as it attracts a younger audience.
“It introduces a whole new demographic for the league,” he said. “I see it with Quinn Coughlin, who I coach directly… a lot of her friends are now getting involved with the CTFL, they’re kind of keeping track.”
Lyness also believes that young viewers will be inspired by watching kids around their age lace up beside established stars.
While the involvement of young athletes will benefit the league through viewership, Lyness said the CTFL is ultimately working towards a better future for them in the sport.
According to the CEO, one of the primary goals of his new league is to bring more money to a sport where athletes often pay out of their own pocket for travel, gear and more.
“At this stage in Track and Field’s development, we’re just not there to help pay for someone’s complete travel expenses,” he said. “The CTFL is laying the groundwork for [young athletes] to be successful in their sport as a career.”
Currently, the CTFL provides multiple channels of revenue to its athletes, the first being monetary prizes to the three athletes with the most accumulated points in each event. The league pays $400 to the first place athlete, $200 for second, and $100 for the third. $1000 is also given to the winning team for its 58 athletes to split evenly. Through the league’s athlete content creation program, there is a $500 prize to the athlete who judges decide covered their season the best.
Along with direct revenue, the CTFL also provides its athletes with a discount to New Balance.
Lyness said the league provides around $25,000 of revenue to its athletes, excluding what individual athletes receive through sponsorships. In the next three years, Lyness said he hopes to see that number rise to $50,000.
“Hopefully, by year five, everybody is being paid in the CTFL… first to last in each event,” he said. “That’ll be a really big thing for us.”
While still quite young, Atonfo, Coughlin and Streek said they hope to see their track careers continue beyond highschool. All three athletes plan on taking their talents to the collegiate level, and even further if possible.
“I would like to continue [running] at the college or university level, competing for a school, wherever it is, here or the states,” said Atonfo. “I’ll just continue going and see where it leads me.”
Coughlin said she wants to go as far as she can with the sport. “I want to be good. I want to be a really good athlete,” she said.
Streek, who plays high level hockey, shares the same sentiment as her teammates, “I know hockey will stop after high school, but I don’t want running to stop, and I don’t think it will,” she said.
As the athletes look toward a bright future in their sport, Lyness is working on “laying the groundwork” for that future to be more financially fair.
“Quinn, Grace and Timeo, If the CTFL is successful, they’re going to be the ones to benefit the most from it,” he said.
“Hopefully one day, when they’re just passing university… it’ll be a league where they’re making thirty or forty-thousand dollars a year from it and they don’t need to lose money while doing the sport that they love.”
]]>CTFL athletes dominated the hurdles event this past weekend at the Bob Vigars Classic in London, Ont. Artics utility athlete Michelle Harrison and Bears core athlete David Adeleye ran a season's best 12.86 and 13.92, respectively.
While both athletes broke meet records, Harrison broke the stadium record of 13.16 that had been standing since 2001.
Harrison said this run came at the end of what she described as “a rough couple of weeks.” “I was sick, I broke my finger, and had a little bit of a hamstring thing going on,” she said.
Regardless of the setbacks, the Saskatoon native said she was confident going into the race. “I PB’d in the 100m and 200m just a couple weeks ago, so I knew my speed was there,” she said.
Harrison ran a seasons best 12.90 (+0.4) in her heat, but was hoping to beat that time in the final, which she did with a time of 12.86 (+0.5).
“It kind of reaffirms where I’m at,” said Harrison. “Even though things were a little rocky, everything is still there and should improve moving forward.”
For Bears athlete Adeleye, this was a memorable race.
Having been at the Alumni Stadium since 10:40 a.m. and not running until about seven hours later, Adeleye said he was slightly fatigued going into his first race.
“I was feeling kind of tired,” he said. “I felt zapped from the heat.”
Despite this, Adeleye said successful training with his coach left him feeling prepared.
“After all my friends were [running personal bests] I was like ‘it’s a good meet and conditions are well, so it’s my best chance to PB.’ I thought I was capable of breaking 14.”
Adeleye ran a 13.92 (+1.4) in his heat and a 13.93 (+1.6) in the final, finishing first in both.
The sprinter credited his footspeed - something that he had been working on - as the deciding factor of the races.
“Me and my coach have been working on… footspeed, the speed in between hurdles, as opposed to hurdling itself,” he said. “I feel like that’s what made the difference in the race I just ran.”
In addition to winning both races, Adeleye accomplished something he’d never done before, breaking the meet record of 14.02.
“It’s my first meet record,” he said. “It was special to me.”
Moving forward, Adeleye says he wants to focus on having a “cleaner” race, clearing more hurdles.
By placing first, Adeleye won 25 points for their respective teams. Additionally, Harrison sits atop of the Utility athlete standings which comes with the accumulation of 75 points for the Arctics. Harrison’s Arctics sit in second place while Adeleye’s Bears are in fourth, just behind the Huskies.
]]>The first two meets were highlighted by 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter sprints as well as Sprint hurdles for both men and women. Other events such as long distance 800 and 1500 meter runs as well as long jump and shot put will be featured at future meets.
Athletes are divided into four teams, the Spitfires, the Huskies, the Arctics and the Bears. Athletes can get points for their respective team through free marks which is a mark that can be awarded at any certified track meet in the world, prelim marks which are awarded at the CTFL meets and if they are top 8 in their respective event they will get a Championship mark on August 5th.
Tinashe Viriri made his CTFL debut at the Calgary meet where he ran in the 200 meter event for the Huskies. Viriri posted a time of 22.17 seconds putting him in second place in his event and gaining 20 points for the Huskies.
“Honestly I did well…I only started track when I was 19 years old so I’m pretty young to the sport and I’m only starting to get faster now so an opportunity like this is great for to actually see where I am and get faster and hopefully I can go pro one day,” said Viriri.
The Spitfires led in the standings after the first meet with 477 points with the Arctics and Huskies not far behind with 324 points and 315 points respectively and the Bears came out on the bottom with only 217 points. THe Spitfires further widened their lead bringing themselves up to 618 points in Montreal as the Artics fell on the bottom after only gaining 71 points form the previous week. The Huskies now sit in second with 451 points and the Bears in third with 412.
The CTFL’s team format is unique in the world of Track and Field and has brought the entertaining elements of team competition to an individual sport.
When asked about the unique team format Viriri said that this is exactly what Track and Field needs and what Canada needs.
Viriri said that the experience of his first CTFL meet was great overall and had an enjoyable atmosphere however not as many people showed up as he expected and he would like to see more people at meets.
“I’m enjoying my time in the CTFL. I hope it grows and I want to see more athletes participate,” said Viriri.
On May 28th the CTFL went to London, Ontario for it's third prelim meet.
By: Keaton Hills
]]>Following the CTFL’s inaugural season, we are happy to announce our return for the 2023 season. However, this season is setting up to be much larger as we continue to innovate and add new dimensions to the league.
We will be adding two new events which are the sprint hurdles and 5,000m. In addition the league will undergo a restructuring as it will utilize a new point system and create a playoff like format on the way to the championship. Lastly, we aim to get our athletes and content creators much more involved this season with opportunities arising throughout the season.
New Events
Beginning with the two new events, the CTFL has elected to add the sprint hurdles and the 5,000m for the 2023 season. This was a tough decision as the league wants to grow its event offerings slowly in order to avoid straining itself as it begins to grow. The decision to add the sprint hurdles and 5,000m events were based on a multitude of factors including elite athlete interest, media analytics and the leagues available resources. The league will continue to add new events in future seasons to our immediate schedule. That being said, with the new league system, the CTFL will be allowing utility athletes to compete in any outdoor track and field event. This means that even if an event is not one of the ten primary CTFL events, those athletes will still have the opportunity to compete for a CTFL team as a utility athlete.
New League Format
This year the CTFL has elected to change up its point system and add a playoff format with real stakes to create intrigue at all levels. Whether you’re following your favourite athlete who’s vying for a medal or just seeing if they’ll make the championship, this new format is setting you up for an exhilarating season. The first major adjustment is that all final points for the CTFL season will no longer be predicated on the IAAF point system. Instead, the league has drawn inspiration from NCAA and Formula One implementing a standardised point system with head-to-head matchups being the focus as opposed to individual marks. The CTFL has done this in order to standardise our point system which now allows for all disciplines to score the exact same amount of points as opposed to last season where some disciplines ended up being more valuable than others. This new point system should also be easier for newcomers to the sport to follow all while making finishing positions much more important.
The second adjustment to the leagues format will be the addition of four new core athletes per discipline. Now each discipline will have 12 athletes as opposed to 2022 which saw each discipline having 8. The reason for this is two-fold. The first is because it reduces the amount of pressure on the league when athletes get injured which we learnt is inevitable in sport. The second is to create intrigue starting from the medal contenders all the way to the 12th place finisher. Under this new format only the top 8 athletes from each discipline will qualify for the championship meet. This means that positions 9 through 12 will most likely not make the championship unless there is an injury or another unforeseen reason why someone ranked in the top 8 cannot make it. In addition, the bottom four athletes will be at risk to being released from their team and potentially the CTFL. With all of this going on, this creates a lot of intrigue which our sport desperately needs to be able to thrive.
Final Remarks
Following what we call our beta test season, we look forward to providing an amazing experience for all fans and athletes alike in 2023. Though some may not like our decisions, the league’s primary objective is to grow the sport, and ultimately, it is our belief that our course corrections will set up the league and the sport for massive levels of growth.
Thank you for your support,
Quinn Lyness
CTFL Founder
]]>Following this weeks USATF 2021 financial statement release and the outcry from athletes and fans alike within social media after finding out that USATF CEO Max Siegel made $3.8 million leaving many top athletes underfunded, I figured it’d be a good time to speak up. With all this going on as well as it being just about a month away from our official 1-year anniversary as a league, I wanted tell everyone how the CTFL operates and how the league plans on helping the sport.
USATF Financial Statement 2021
First off, the CTFL is a business, however in its current state our aim is to run at a loss for the foreseeable future. We are doing this not because we need to, but because the sport is in desperate need of saving. As the creator, I don’t foresee myself taking a salary until the athletes have a prize fund in excess of $30,000. Therefore, practically everything the CTFL earns goes straight back into either paying the athletes for all of their time and efforts or we invest it into increasing our media exposure to build a platform for the sport and its athletes (that includes bare minimum travel expenses and assisting some of the nicest human beings who offer their time and skills to help the league grow for free or for very little). So, you can understand why a $3.8 million salary has frustrated so many people, myself included being that its such a large waste of money for something that has no benefit to the sport.
The Current Track and Field Landscape
It’s my belief that many organizations like USATF go about assisting athletes in the wrong way (This opinion is on top of the fact that the USATF CEO is literally taking the money out of the athlete’s mouths). These “not-for-profits” focus on divvying up the funding from the government and their pre-existing sponsors instead of fixing the root problem. That root problem being that the metaphorical pie is not growing, i.e. the sport is stagnant and is seemingly dying off with funding for professionals and universities drying up. When first talking to other organizations, they became worried that the CTFL would take portions of “the pie” away which would make it harder for these organizations to put on necessary events and provide athletes with funding. These types of organizations think about how to keep their money while failing to understand that they can make the pie larger so more people can eat (hopefully you follow the pie metaphor).
To be clear, this is not an attack on the organizations I talked with while creating the CTFL. Their mandate is solely athlete focused which is needed for the sport to have a safety net and ensure a basic level of support for athletes. There just isn’t an organization built for the sole purpose of marketing the sport to fans effectively which helps athletes in the long run (Yes even Diamond League).
Now, the question is, if these organizations are helping the athletes, how can an organization like the CTFL do it differently and in some cases better?
How can the CTFL Grow the Sport?
As mentioned previously, the CTFL is focused on growing the sport and its access to funding. This is done by creating new opportunities for investment. Similar to Hockey Canada (maybe a bad organization to pick at the moment) and the NHL’s relationship. In this scenario, Hockey Canada’s job is not to grow the sport, as it’s focused on building up the athletes it has in its system and creating a contending national team. Hockey Canada receives adequate funding from the government which does not make it reliant on sponsorship or other sources of funding alone. Comparing this to the NHL, which needs to grow the market for hockey in order to make more money. Therefore, when you think about hockey, you think about the NHL and not team Canada. As a result of its focus to grow the sport, this ultimately allows the NHL to increase hockey’s overall value and pay their players higher salaries every few years due to a more lucrative and engaged fan base. The same can be said about track and field, however there is no official league or system that is set up aside from the Olympics that allows for a larger amount of world-wide fan engagement.
Photo by Mundo Sport Images
This is where the CTFL comes in. The league itself is a tool for growth and with it, also a tool for athletes to use to make more money doing the sport they love. As the CTFL continues to grow, so will the market for track and field, in addition to the monetary investment that should be redistributed back into the growth of the sport. Assuming the CTFL is correct in building the sport up using a team format, it can be used to increase the market for track and field perpetually. The league’s growth can be exponential if the following cycle can be achieved:
Evidently, if there are no major bumps along the way, the CTFL and other like-minded organizations have a very good chance of having a positive impact on the sport. The issues arise when groups of people emerge and get greedy similarly to the $3.8 million dollar man at USATF. When money is taken out of the sports system that serves no purpose, there is no value added into the sport. Unlike USATF, the CTFL’s plan for perpetual growth is predicated on reinvesting all it has to give in order to improve the experience for fans and thus the athletes.
Thank you for reading and following along with the CTFL,
Quinn Lyness
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League Success
Looking back on the season, the CTFL managed to bring together 128 of Canada’s elite track and field athletes as they achieved multiple personal bests and acquired some great hardware. All this culminating in 16 international appearances, 29 top 10 Canadian performances and over half the league finishing in the top 25 Canadian performances for their respective events. The league also hosted Canada’s fastest 400m hurdle race at our championship which we hope to replicate with many more events next season. On the fan side, we had approximately 120,000 fans consuming our social media content, with 870,000 impressions and over 2,000 hours of watched video. Our final 2022 media piece will be the metre-by-metre series which will be a docuseries style TV show following some of your favourite athletes throughout the season as they tell their stories and race experiences.
Athlete Feedback
Looking back on those experiences, this past season was an overall success with an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from athletes, fans and partners. Following the season, we conducted an athlete survey to see how the athletes felt about the league and where we could improve for the coming seasons. With 60% of CTFL athletes responding, we are excited to announce that 98% of those athletes will be returning. Additionally, we also found that 68% of athletes had a great experience with the CTFL and 30% had an overall good experience, with only 2% having an average or worse experience. We also asked athletes an array of questions including, how they would like funds to be allocated, if they plan on remaining in the same event, which events they want added and a few open-ended questions. The end result was very positive and provided the league with great information that will be used to improve for next year as we continue to be an athlete first league.
Here were some of the athlete testimonials when asked to describe their CTFL experience:
“So much fun! Was great to get together with other athletes on the team and work together!”
“I liked having a structured league and keeping up with the scoring table after every competition! I also loved the media/pictures and meeting new people.”
“It was great for something fresh to start in Canada for track. I loved getting drafted and enjoyed the whole team experience. The meets were enjoyable as well.”
“Gave me the opportunity to race against higher level athletes. I spent time with people I never have before allowing me to make new connections.”
“It was cool to be a part of something I wish we had a lot sooner and I hope grows more. I felt more like a professional athlete”
“Amazing experience! it was a lot of fun, especially meeting new people & making some money as well :)”
“Awesome time! Met lots of new friends & very stoked to have such a supportive and motivating platform to compete and have the opportunity to thrive!”
“The CTFL brings a team aspect to outdoor track and field in Canada, which has been lacking since universities don’t have an outdoor season. The CTFL is great and I love it.”
Future Seasons
Headed into 2023, the CTFL will be investing in a complete overhaul of our media production to increase overall quality and provide fans and athletes with more content. The league plans on expanding its events to now include 10 disciplines. Additionally, the CTFL will be adjusting its format with each discipline’s roster increasing to 12 athletes per event/gender compared to the maximum of 8 athletes which was used this past season. This in turn will create a playoff format whereby only the top 8 athletes per event/gender will be asked to compete at the championship, thus increasing the stakes for each team and ensuring that the CTFL championship will have a full final.
To conclude, we at the CTFL are extremely excited about what the league accomplished in its first year. As we look a head to 2023, you can expect a larger media presence, better performances, new elite athletes and an entertaining championship battle. Thank you all for helping us build up our sport of track and field, and we look forward to continuing to serve this amazing community for years to come.
]]>First off, the tentative schedule has been released with the CTFL kicking things off in Montreal on July 21st with the help of Saint-Laurent Sélect. The following meet will be in London, Ontario on either May 28th or 29th hosted by the London Western Track and Field Club. The final prelim will occur in late June (not falling on the dates of nationals) or early July (prior to the championship) in Ottawa, hosted by the Ottawa Lions. The Championship will happen again in Ottawa on July 20th (During the World Championships) with the help of the Ottawa Lions. The championship will be the only time whereby CTFL athletes and non-CTFL athletes will compete separately. This is because the prelims will be hosted by clubs just as a regular twilight or high-performance meet. Additionally, core athletes should remember that they must compete in at least one preliminary meet as well as the championship (see athlete information for the remaining requirements). Also, the CTFL may look to add one more prelim meet to the schedule to make it even easier for athletes to meet the minimum amounts of meets required to register as a core athlete.
As of March 11th, all women’s events have at least one spot left unfilled. On the men’s side, only the 200m, 800m and shot put have at least one spot left unfilled. Thus far there are over 160 athletes registered so some events are more competitive than others in terms of draft probability. Also, though there remain spots unfilled, athletes can continue to register under the events that have exceeded the 8-person quota (2 athletes per event, per gender). We anticipate a large influx of registrations in the coming weeks after announcing our schedule. However, in the event that there are not enough athletes to fill the 8-athlete quota, we will either lower the standards slightly a week before the registration closes (registration closes March 31st) or continue with just those who have already registered.
A look into the top three items that the CTFL is focusing on over the next month: