As we get set to enter Day 7 of competition at the Olympic Stadium we wanted to help introduce you to the third and final Lion competing this year in Tokyo – Lauren Gale.
At 21 years of age, Gale is the youngest member of the Canadian athletics team in Japan and is expected to run as part of Canada’s 4×400 metre relay team in Thursday morning’s heats.
The Colorado State University record holder set a lifetime best of 51.96 seconds over 400 metres at the NCAA West Regional back in May to qualify for Team Canada. The mark is the second fastest in Club history. Gale set the Club record over the 200 metres as well this year with her 23.15 second clocking at the Mountain West Conference Championships.
We had a chance to connect with Olympian Lauren Gale prior to the start of the Games and ask her a few questions to help you get to know her a little better.
Q: How did you get started in track and field?
Gale: I was always super speedy when I was playing soccer. I always got to the ball first. So we tried switching into running and it took off from there! It didn’t really start being competitive until I joined the Lions!
Q: Name your favourite place to compete.
Gale: My favourite place to compete was the Bahamas, who wouldn’t love it there! All the teams got to stay in the same hotel on different floors and it was a great environment, lots of fun!
Q: What drill or exercise do you enjoy the most?
Gale: I love doing band + block. It really helps me with my block starts and I am able to focus on form.
Q: If you could do any other event in track and field, which would you choose?
Gale: I would love to do long or triple jump. I think getting to be so explosive and landing in sand would be fun!
Q: What is your go to pre-competition meal?
Gale: I usually have something protein filled with lots of veggies and fruit!
Q: What is in your warm-up playlist?
Gale: I usually go with rap.
Q: What are you binging on Netflix right now?
Gale: It’s always HGTV. I love the home renovation shows!
Q: What book are you reading/most recently read?
Gale: I have been reading my HDFS 350 (Applied Research Methods) textbook! I’m taking a summer class so that’s what has been taking up most of my time recently.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about competing in your first Olympics?
Gale: I think just getting to take in the atmosphere even though it might be a little different this year. Getting to be surrounded by and competing against amazing athletes will be a great experience. Getting to see the Athlete village with the Olympic Rings everywhere is gonna be awesome too!
The women’s 4×400 metre heats are scheduled for 6:25 am EDT Thursday morning. Canada will run in the second of two heats. The top three plus the next two fastest times will qualify to Saturday’s final.
For more information on Tokyo 2020 and links to results and the live stream, check out our Tokyo Olympic Hub.
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