Twenty-four hours after briefly holding the world record for the new mixed 4x100m event, Canada stepped onto the second step of the podium behind Jamaica at the World Relays Championships. The champions of the day clocked 39.62 seconds, improving on their own world mark set in Saturday’s qualifiers.
Audrey Leduc made a comeback in the final relay to beat her American rival in the last meters. The United States settled for bronze, ten hundredths behind Canada. Marie-Èloïse Leclair, Eliezer Adjibi, and Duan Asemota carried the baton on the first three segments of the Debswana track in Botswana, in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Prior to this silver medal, the champions of the 2025 event had secured Canada’s spot at the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Leduc and Leclair also combined efforts with Ontario’s Sade McCreath and Quebec’s Donna Ntambue, twenty minutes later, to win silver in the women’s 4x100m. The Canadians were first in the final baton exchange between Leclair and Ntambue, but the latter was overtaken by Jamaican rival Elaine Thompson-Herah, who stopped the clock at exactly 42 seconds.
“Overall, I think we gave a very good performance under the circumstances,” highlighted Audrey Leduc in an interview with Radio-Canada Sports. “It started the season very well, showing that the form is there since we did four races in two days,” she added.
“It’s really being able to do it when it matters that is special for us right now,” said teammate Marie-Èloïse Leclair. Completing the race in 42.17, the Canadians set a national record.
The Canadian female sprinters in the 4x400m also secured a medal, finishing in 3rd place. Zoe Sherar, Lauren Gale, Jasneet Nijjar, and Savannah Sutherland covered the distance in 3:22.66, a season’s best for the quartet. Norway and Spain completed the podium.
In the men’s event, the reigning Olympic champion Canada had to settle for 7th place after the right thigh injury of second relay runner Jerome Blake. He hobbled to hand over to Brendon Rodney. Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown completed the quartet, as in Paris in 2024. The Americans took gold in 37.43 ahead of South Africa and Germany.
