On Friday night in Hamilton, 18-year-old Nicolas Belan took a significant step towards achieving a feat accomplished by only two other Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club members. Belan ran a personal best time of 3 minutes and 46.87 seconds for 1500 metres, surpassing the qualifying standard for the upcoming World Athletics U20 Championships. However, the race did not proceed exactly as planned.
After narrowly missing the 1500 metre standard for the World Athletics U20 Championships at the Johnny Loaring Classic almost two weeks ago, Belan saw Thursday night’s 1500m Night in Hamilton as a prime opportunity to break the 3:48.00 barrier. However, unexpected storms, which had delayed the final minutes of the Redblacks game, rolled through Hamilton, pushing the final five heats of the 1500 metres to Friday night.
Despite the weather-induced delay and the need for extra warm-ups and cool-downs, Belan stayed focused and did what he has done best this year—run faster.
Belan, who will be attending the University of Guelph, began competing for the Club in the summer of 2022, finishing the season with a personal best of 4:13.42. Over the next twelve months, his dedication and hard work paid off as he made the OFSAA final, qualified for the Canadian Championships, and shaved 16.5 seconds off his best time.
Taking a gap year after graduating from Canterbury High School, Belan has continued to excel, achieving four personal bests in five races this season, both indoors and outdoors. His consistent improvement raises the question of just how much faster he can go.
With two other Canadian runners also surpassing the World U20 standard, Belan may need yet another personal best at the upcoming Canadian Championships to secure one of the two spots on the team heading to Lima, Peru at the end of August.
If successful, Belan would become only the third Lion to represent Canada over 1500 metres at the World U20 Championships, joining Jenni Biewald (2006) and 2004 finalist Mike Woods.