London area track and field athletes book tickets to Paris 2024 Olympics
![Alysha Newman of Delaware Alysha Newman of Delaware, Ont. holds a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games after winning the pole vault at the Bell Track and Field Championships in Montreal. (Source: Athletics Canada)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/6/30/alysha-newman-of-delaware-1-6946969-1719774113527.jpg)
Alysha Newman is headed to her third straight Olympic Games.
The Delaware, Ont. native won the women’s pole vault title and set a new Canadian Championships record at the Bell Track and Field Championships in Montreal Friday.
The graduate of Mother Teresa S.S. jumped 4.75 metres, earning automatic nomination for Paris, in concert with the Olympic standard she achieved earlier this year.
“I feel really excited to be where I’m at,” Newman told Athletics Canada. “Any sport you do, anytime you jump high and you go for records, it gives you confidence.”
Newman has had her share of injuries during her career, which has now reached ten years.
That included a severe ankle sprain earlier this year at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which kept her out of competition a month.
“I know 4.75 metres won’t podium, but I want to go [to Paris],” said Newman. “I want to have fun like I did tonight, and just showcase and entertain.”
London, Ont. born Lucia Stafford celebrates after crossing the finish line in first place in the 1,500 metres at the Bell Track and Field Championships in Montreal. (Source: Athletics Canada)London-born Lucia Stafford –who grew up in Toronto- is also headed to Paris. She ran to a time of 4:10.14 in the Women’s 1,500 metre to qualify for her second Olympic Games, after running in 2020 in Tokyo.
“I’m a totally different person in the best way,” Stafford told media post-race, comparing today to where she was when she qualified for her first Olympics. “I just feel like I love this sport and I can’t wait to compete. Tokyo went well for me, but it felt so much to get there. Now I’m excited to be a fierce competitor instead of a scared one.”
Defending Olympic Champion Damian Warner had already booked his spot in Paris, but competed in a few events in Montreal just to get some work in the long jump, 110 metre hurdles and 400 metres.
Mt. Brydges, Ont. native Mark Bujnowski won the Canadian men’s shot put with a throw of 19.15 metres, but did not meet the Olympic Standard to qualify for Paris.
While more local athletes who did great things this weekend will not be headed to Paris for the Olympics, they did qualify for the U20 World Championships in Peru.
Jackson MacKay of London, Ont. won the U20 decathlon with 7,156 points.
“I’m proud to make the standard for World Athletics U20 Championships in Peru,” MacKay wrote on X. “Got to try on some Team Canada swag. Over the moon to receive congratulations from the great Damian Warner.”
Julia Tunks finished second in the Women’s Discus, but still qualified for the U20 Worlds.
The future UCLA Bruin has been battling an injury to her pectoral muscle, and the recovery time was just not enough to compete at her highest level her father and former Olympian Jason Tunks wrote on Instagram.
Julia’s younger sister Jenna Tunks needed her last discus throw to claim gold with a toss of 45.89 metres. The Londoner claimed the U20 championship over Blenheim’s Emma Negri.
Despite her victory meeting the U20 standard, Jenna is too young to compete at the U20 Worlds.
Londoner Payton Serraglio is also headed to Lima after winning the U20 women’s pole vault with a height of 4.00 metres.
Payton Serraglio of London, Ont. won the U20 Pole Vault at the Bell Track and Field Championships in Montreal. (Source: Athletics Canada)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6947618.1719864087!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Flash flooding in B.C. Interior affects at least 20 homes, emergency officials say
At least 20 homes have been affected by flash flooding in the British Columbia Interior following heavy rains that forced the overnight closure of the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops.
Fire at gas metering station sparks grass fire that shut Alberta highway
Yellowhead County in west-central Alberta says a fire that prompted the closure of a major highway west of Edmonton involved a gas metering station.
These ultraprocessed foods may shorten your life, study says
Eating higher levels of ultraprocessed food may shorten lifespans by more than 10 per cent, according to a new, unpublished study of over 500,000 people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades.
Eddie Murphy is still stung by that David Spade joke on 'Saturday Night Live'
Eddie Murphy is reflecting on some of the “cheap shots” he feels he’s taken over the years.
If you qualify for this tax credit, you can expect a payment in your bank account this week
The next quarterly GST/HST tax credit payment is expected to go out this week, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Judge calls Jeffrey Epstein 'most infamous pedophile in American history' as he releases transcripts
A Florida judge released Monday afternoon the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury investigation that looked into sex trafficking and rape allegations made against the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts
The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for any actions that were within his constitutional powers as president, but can for private acts, in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
This 12-year-old memorized the periodic table at age two. He's heading to NYU after finishing high school in just two years
Recent high school graduate Suborno Isaac Bari, 12, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral program.
Possible indecent gesture at Euro 2024 game under investigation
England star Jude Bellingham is being investigated by UEFA over a potentially offensive gesture made during a European Championship win against Slovakia.