According to the Canadian Press on Tuesday, Regan Yee of Hazelton, British Columbia set the Canadian record in the women’s 3000 metre steeplechase with a time of nine minutes, 27.54 seconds. The record was set at the Classique d’Athletisme de Montreal, and in the process, Yee qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. This was the final competition where Canadian athletes could qualify for the Olympic Games.
Yee’s time was 2.28 seconds faster than the Canadian record, which was set by Genevieve Lalonde of Montreal, Quebec. Lalonde had a time of nine minutes, 29.82 seconds at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in China on May 18, 2019.
The Canadian Olympic qualifying standard time for the women’s 3000 metre steeplechase was nine minutes and 30 seconds. Yee had won the women’s 3000 metre steeplechase on Friday, but did not post the Canadian Olympic standard time, as she posted a time of only nine minutes, 31.46 seconds. The world record in the women’s 3000 metre steeplechase belongs to Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, who had a time of eight minutes, 44.32 seconds at the Herculis Track and Field Meet in Fontvieille, Monaco on July 20, 2018.
In the men’s 3000 metre steeplechase, John Gay of Vancouver, British Columbia qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 with a time of eight minutes, 20.68 seconds. The Canadian Olympic qualifying standard time in the men’s 3000 metre steeplechase was eight minutes and 22 seconds according to Anne Francis of Canadian Running Magazine.
