Athletics Canada unveiled its marathon team for this year’s World Athletics Championships — three men, three women — but its top qualifier is skipping the event to attempt a national record in the fall.
Rory Linkletter, who ran the Boston Marathon in two hours seven minutes two seconds last month, wants to lower that personal best to 2:05 or 2:06 in the next year or two.
That wouldn’t happen in the men’s world marathon on Sept. 15, the Calgary-born runner said, as the Tokyo heat would make it less conducive to achieving a fast time.
“I’d like to go for the Canadian record in the fall instead,” Linkletter told CBC Sports, rhyming off the potential options of Chicago, The Marathon Project in Chandler, Ariz., and Valencia, Spain.
The 2:05:36 national mark is held by Cam Levins, who was added to the Canadian team in Linkletter’s place, along with 2024 Olympian Ben Preisner and 2024 Canadian marathon champion Justin Kent.
None of the Canadians ran the 2:06:30 entry standard to automatically qualify for worlds. Linkletter was 40th in the world rankings quota among the top 100 to be selected, followed by Preisner (65th) and Kent (67th). Levins was outside the top 100 but the next highest Canadian.
On the women’s side, Canadian record holder Natasha Wodak, two-time Olympian Malindi Elmore and longtime distance runner Leslie Sexton were also named to the Sept. 13-21 event. They, too, didn’t run the 2:23:30 qualifying standard and ranked 56th, 67th and 70th, respectively.
The eight-member team also includes four-time Olympian Moh Ahmed in the 10,000 metres and world record race walker Evan Dunfee.
Recently, Levins told CBC Sports he was undecided about racing at worlds or a major marathon – Sydney is Aug. 31 followed by Berlin (Sept. 21) and Chicago (Oct. 12).
Levins ran ‘best road 10K’ in Vancouver
Levins was the top Canadian over 10 km at the Vancouver Sun Run last month, clocking 28:23 — or 12 seconds off his PB — and will race at the Ottawa 10K with Preisner on May 24.
“I think it was probably my best road 10K performance I’ve put forth, even though it’s not my personal best,” the 36-year-old told CBC Sports. “I’m feeling good and looking to race more.”
After last year’s 2:11:56 performance at the Paris Olympics, Levins spent much of his time recovering from an Achilles tendon issue and figured the start of another Olympic cycle was a good time to reset.
“The Achilles had been a nuisance in training for a couple of years. It’s fantastic 1747192160 and [my] body is feeling great in general,” he said.
For Preisner, Tokyo will represent his third world championship marathon after racing in 2022 (Eugene, Ore.) and 2023 (Budapest, Hungary). The Milton, Ont., native clocked 2:10:32 in Osaka, Japan on Feb. 24.
“It’s always an honour to compete at the world championships,” said the 29-year-old Vancouver resident, who has a 2:08:58 PB. “Getting back to competing with the world’s best has been on my mind since missing out on the Paris Games [last summer] so I’m excited to put in the work this summer and prove to myself that I belong.”
Preisner will also run the Vancouver Half Marathon June 22 before entering a training block for worlds.
Kent, from Burnaby, B.C., continues to improve at age 34. On March 30, he lowered his PB by nearly three minutes, winning the McKirdy Micro Marathon in Rockland, N.Y. His 2:09:29 clocking is the sixth-fastest time ever by a Canadian.
Ahmed, also, 34, has left the past two world championships without a medal from the track in the 5,000 and 10,000 after earning 2019 bronze in the former event in Doha, Qatar.
The 2021 Olympic 5,000m silver medallist is slowly transitioning to road racing and was forced to withdraw from a half marathon in New York City in March due to back spasms and adductor issues suffered in his final workout.
Dunfee set Canadian race walk mark at 2023 worlds
Dunfee set the world record in the 35 km race walk in March, posting a time of 2:21:40, surpassing the previous record by seven seconds.
At the 2023 worlds, he was fourth in the men’s 20 km and 35 km races, running a Canadian record in the former (1:18:03) that he has since lowered to 1:17:39.
“This will be my seventh world championship representing Canada and the program continues to build towards one of the top athletics nations in the world,” Dunfee told Athletics Canada.
“Japan fully embraces the endurance events so we know the crowds will be lining the streets to cheer us on. This for me is maybe one of the first times I’m heading into a global championship as a favourite. … I am looking forward to taking on this new challenge.”
Athletics Canada said additional athletes may be added in the 10,000 and 35 km race walk when the remainder of Canada’s team is announced Aug. 28.
“The group that we selected [Tuesday has] a lot of experience. We’re looking for them to … [be] prepared to go after personal bests, season’s bests, top-eight 8 finishes and even the [medal] podium,” Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert said in a statement.
Wodak, 43, and Elmore, 45, will battle in Tokyo after facing each other in the Ottawa 10K later this month.
Wodak, who was 15th in the 2023 women’s world marathon, will return to Japan after placing 13th among women in the 2021 Olympic marathon in Sapporo.
Elmore is coming off a 2:26:05 effort on Dec. 1 in Valencia, where she finished 17th.
Sexton of Markham, Ont., made her national team debut at the 2022 worlds and a stubborn, never-give up-mentality led to a better-than-expected 13th-place finish (2:28:52). Last October, was second (2:33:15) in the Canadian standings at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
