Gabriela Debues-Stafford of London, Ontario and Brandon McBride of Windsor, Ontario each won bronze medals on Thursday at the Diamond League Finals in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday. Debues-Stafford set a personal best and Canadian record in winning the bronze medal in the women’s 1500 metres and McBride had a seasonal best in winning the bronze medal in the men’s 800 metres.
Debues-Stafford posted a third place, national record time of three minutes, 59.59 seconds. In becoming the first Canadian ever to run under four minutes in the women’s 1500 metres, Debues-Stafford broke the Canadian record she set on July 20. At the Muller Anniversary Games, she won the bronze medal at the Diamond League Athletics competition in London, England with a time of four minutes, 0.26 seconds.
In Zurich, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 3:57.08. Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 3:59.02. Debues-Stafford reached the podium by 0.87 seconds over fourth place finisher Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia, who had a fourth place time of 4:00.86.
In the men’s 800 metres in Zurich, McBride had a time of 1:43.51. Donavan Brazier of the United States had a gold medal winning time of 1:42.70. Nijel Amos of Botswana won the silver medal with a time of 1:42.98. McBride reached the podium by 0.18 seconds over Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir of Kenya, who finished in fourth place with a time of 1:43.69. The medals for Debues-Stafford and McBride will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
