After a one year delay, the time has finally arrived. The athletics portion of the Canada Summer Games, a quadrennial multi-sport event that brings together the best summer sport athletes from across Canada, kicks off Tuesday morning at Canada Games Park in Thorold, Ont. The Lions will be represented by six current members during the four day competition, and they will be led by another three Lions coaches.
David Adeleye, David Moulongou, Tom Nedow, Luca Nicoletti, Doyin Ogunremi, and Leo Wallner will don the red and white of Team Ontario, guided by head coach Leslie Estwick and two of her assistants Zach Quevillon and Amanda Fader. Two former Lions, Madison McLean (javelin) and Jonathan Rioux (3000m steeplechase) will also be representing Ontario at the Games.
Wallner is the first to compete, starting day one of the two day decathlon at 9:25 am on Tuesday morning. The 18-year-old says his goal heading into the Games is to improve on his throwing events and hopefully make a run for the 6000 point barrier. Wallner had set a new personal best of 5689 points when he won the Trials in early July.
Tuesday will also see a pair of 400 metre hurdlers in action in the form of Luca Nicoletti and David Moulongou. The pair finished third and fifth respectively at this year’s Canadian U20 Championships and have their eyes set squarely on running even faster on this new Canada Games Park track.
While both are also expected to take part in relay events for Team Ontario, Moulongou has been offered another challenge at the Games – the 800 metres. While not having contested the event previously, the University of Ottawa student will toe the line in the heats Wednesday as the coaches believe his 400 metre speed (personal best 48.94) and his strength from the hurdles will be a solid combination to help Ontario score valuable team points.
Tuesday will also feature the heats for the flat 400 metres for Doyin Ogunremi. The 19-year-old has been on a bit of a tear of late, having produced a wonderful lead off leg for the Lions’ Canadian Club record setting 4×400 metre at the national championships and followed that up with a massive lifetime best to win the trials back in early July. She’ll be looking to keep those feet moving fast to secure a spot in Friday’s final.
Ogunremi will also contest the 200 metre heats on Wednesday, and is also expected to line up on the 4×400 metre relay team.
If you’re looking for Tom Nedow, he’ll be out in the field throwing some heavy objects. The 24-year-old is one of the oldest members of team Ontario and one of its busiest as he will contest three of the four throwing events in Thorold. The national silver medalist will undoubtedly be a favourite in the discus when it gets started Tuesday afternoon.
Nedow will contest the shot put on Wednesday, an event where he just set a new lifetime best of 17.61 metres less than two weeks ago. He’ll follow that up a couple hours later with the hammer throw, an event he won at this year’s Ontario Championships.
Look for David Adeleye to be gunning for a spot on the podium in his speciality, the 110 metre hurdles when they get going on Wednesday. The University of Toronto student is coming off a pair of personal bests at our final Twilight last Wednesday and is primed to break the 14 second barrier in the right conditions.
Away from the track, heptathlete Audrey Goddard will be jumping with a slightly different purpose as she spike her way to a medal as part of Ontario’s volleyball team. The multi-sport talent, who also plays for the Ottawa Fusion Volleyball Club, will put her six foot tall stature and bouncy step to great use as outside attacker. Goddard and Team Ontario kick off round robin play on Tuesday against Nova Scotia.
Tuesday will also be the first day of action for Lucy Hempstead as she competes in the cycling time trial event – a strong suit for the former 400 metre hurdler. Hempstead, who made the transition from the track to road cycling after a strong performance at the RBC Training Ground, has stated her goals for the Games are to “win the time trial and position myself well in the road race.”
Below is a schedule of events for Lions athletes on the track and in the field.
Tuesday, August 16
09h25 Decathlon 100m (Leo Wallner)
10h15 Decathlon Long Jump (Leo Wallner)
10h40 Men’s 400m Hurdle Heats (Luca Nicoletti/David Moulongou)
12h30 Decathlon Shot Put (Leo Wallner)
14h30 Decathlon High Jump (Leo Wallner)
15h10 Women’s 400m Heats (Doyin Ogunremi)
16h00 Men’s Discus Qualifying (Tom Nedow)
17h20 Decathlon 400m (Leo Wallner)
Wednesday, August 17
09h00 Decathlon 110m Hurdles (Leo Wallner)
09h30 Men’s Shot Put Qualifying (Tom Nedow)
10h15 Decathlon Discus (Leo Wallner)
10h20 Women’s 200m Heats (Doyin Ogunremi)
11h15 Men’s 800m heats (David Moulongou)
12h20 Decathlon Pole Vault (Leo Wallner)
14h55 Men’s 110m Hurdle Heats (David Adeleye)
15h15 Decathlon Javelin (Leo Wallner)
16h30 Men’s Hammer Throw Qualifying (Tom Nedow)
16h35 Men’s 4x400m Heats (Luca Nicoletti/David Moulongou)
17h05 Women’s 4x400m Heats (Doyin Ogunremi)
17h50 Decathlon 1500m (Leo Wallner)
Friday, August 19
11h15 Men’s 400m Consolation Final (David Moulongou*)
11h25 Women’s 400m Consolation Final (Doyin Ogunremi*)
11h35 Men’s 400m Final (David Moulongou*)
11h45 Women’s 400m Final (Doyin Ogunremi*)
13h15 Men’s Hammer Final (Tom Nedow*)
15h00 Men’s Shot Put Final (Tom Nedow*)
16h45 Men’s 400m Hurdle Consolation Final (Luca Nicoletti/David Moulongou*)
17h15 Men’s 400m Hurdle Final (Luca Nicoletti/David Moulongou*)
Saturday, August 20
09h00 Men’s Discus Final (Tom Nedow*)
09h05 Women’s 200m Consolation Final (Doyin Ogunremi*)
09h25 Women’s 200m Final (Doyin Ogunremi*)
10h50 Men’s 800m Consolation Final (David Moulongou*)
11h10 Men’s 800m Final (David Moulongou*)
11h45 Men’s 110m Hurdle Consolation Final (David Adeleye*)
11h50 Men’s 110m Hurdle Final (David Adeleye*)
16h05 Men’s 4x400m Final (Luca Nicoletti/David Moulongou*)
16h15 Women’s 4x400m Final (Doyin Ogunremi*)
*pending qualification
For results, visit Windsor Timing.
For Live Streaming, visit https://niagara2022games.ca/