From Ottawa to Tokyo, two Lions are set to chase glory on track and field’s biggest stage. Lauren Gale and Maëliss Trapeau will don the maple leaf for Team Canada at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, joining the world’s best athletes inside Japan’s iconic National Stadium this September.
The championships, set for September 13–21, will bring more than 2,000 athletes from 200 countries back to the Japan National Stadium—host venue of the 2020 Olympic Games—for the first time since Tokyo last staged the event in 1991. For Team Canada head coach, and Lions Hall of Famer, Glenroy Gilbert, the return to Tokyo is something special.
“It’s an amazing facility. It’s an amazing stadium. It’s just been waiting for this opportunity to welcome the world back to where the athletes can run in front of a full stadium of spectators,” Gilbert said in the Athletics Canada’s team announcement. “I think the athletes will have a blast. They’ll enjoy it. I’m looking forward to seeing them put on an amazing world championships. To have full stadiums of spectators cheering our athletes on will be a real special added bonus for those athletes that were there four years ago.”
For Gale, Tokyo will mark her second World Championships appearance following her historic debut in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022, when she became the first Lion to contest two individual events on the world stage.
The Colorado State alumna is slated to compete in the open 400m and relays, events in which she has already made an impact this season. At the World Relays in May, Gale helped Canada qualify for both the women’s and mixed 4x400m events, running on a national record-setting mixed relay team. She owns a season’s best of 51.00 seconds, recorded at the Irena Szewińska Memorial in Poland, and most recently placed sixth at the NACAC Championships in the Bahamas.
Gale also has history in Tokyo, having been part of Canada’s 2020 Olympic team as a 4x400m alternate.
For Trapeau, Tokyo will be her first international outing in Canadian colours. The dual citizen previously represented France at the 2018 World U20 Championships before re-establishing herself in Ottawa.
A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Trapeau relocated to France after her studies to pursue the 800m. This year, she broke the two-minute barrier for the first time with a personal best of 1:59.09 in Toulouse, just shy of the World Championship standard of 1:59.00. Since rejoining the Lions in July, she has captured her first Canadian title. Just two weeks ago in Switzerland, she once again dipped under two minutes, clocking 1:59.86 at the Fribourg International Meeting.
To follow Lauren and Maëliss in Tokyo, you can catch all the action live on CBC Gem. Below is the event schedule (all times Eastern)
- Mixed 4x400m Relay
Heats – Friday, Sept. 12, 10:55 p.m.
Final – Saturday, Sept. 13, 9:20 a.m. - Women’s 400m
Heats – Sunday, Sept. 14, 6:25 a.m.
Semifinal – Tuesday, Sept. 16, 8:05 a.m.
Final – Thursday, Sept. 18, 9:24 a.m. - Women’s 800m
Heats – Thursday, Sept. 18, 6:55 a.m.
Semifinal – Friday, Sept. 19, 7:45 a.m.
Final – Sunday, Sept. 21, 6:35 a.m. - Women’s 4x400m Relay
Heats – Saturday, Sept. 20, 7:00 a.m.
Final – Sunday, Sept. 21, 7:40 a.m.