Dylan Armstrong wins World Championship bronze

Dylan Armstrong wins World Championship bronze

Moscow, August 16, 2013 – Another day and another medal for Canada at the 2013 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championship in Moscow, Russia. Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, B.C., won bronze in the shot put with a seasonal best of 21.34-metres. Armstrong’s medal is Canada’s fourth in Moscow, tying Canada’s best all-time performance at the IAAF World Championships. 

Other Canadian day seven highlights included Nate Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., qualifying for the 1500-metres final and Angela Whyte of Edmonton, Alta., and Jessica Zelinka of London, Ont., advancing to the semi-finals of the 100-metre hurdles. 

Going into the fifth round of throws in the shot put final Armstrong sat in fourth place with a seasonal best of 21.10-metres achieved in the second round. His fifth throw, another seasonal best, this time measuring 21.34-metres propelled him into the bronze medal position. “I just feel amazing, my coach and I worked really hard, I made some really good choices this year. He’s been a huge part of my career and success and I can’t thank him enough. Without him none of this would be possible, and without all of my supporters in Kamloops. I worked really hard for this, I’m really happy.”

Dylan on his medal tying Canada’s best ever showing at the World Championships, “It’s another medal for Canada, it shows that when you have the right coaches in place, the right support and the funding behind it that it’s going to payoff. You have to invest in sport, results don’t come for free.” This is Dylan’s third World Championship medal after winning indoor bronze in 2010 and outdoor silver in 2011.

Nate Brannen placed seventh in a seasonal best of 3:36.59 in the second semi-final of the 1500-metres to advance to Sunday’s final. “I felt really good until like the last 50-metres. With 400-metres to go I thought I could blast in but I got stuck out between lanes two and three. Going down the homestretch I knew I was top seven so I just cruised it in. Hopefully I saved enough for the final.”

Angela Whyte and Jessica Zelinka both qualified for tomorrow’s semi-finals in the 100-metre hurdles. Whyte won heat one in a time of 12.93 seconds to auto-qualify, “Super relieved that it’s over. I couldn’t sleep last night. I always take this round by round, got through to the next one so I’m happy. It’s going to be really tough in the semis; I will do the best I can. I don’t care about the time in the semis, just want to place well and get through to the final.”

Zelinka also auto-qualified by placing fourth in heat three in 13.15 seconds, “It’s been awhile since I raced, I felt like I was in slow motion, just jogging through. It was good to get that in and get it out of the way. Going to put it all out there tomorrow. I’ve been training on my own a lot this year; it’s like I forgot what it was like to race. I’m glad it’s out of the way.”

The women’s 4x400-metres finished fifth in heat 3 in a seasonal best of 3:31.09, they did not qualify for the final. Leadoff Alicia Brown of Ottawa, Ont. “Much happier with my performance today then my individual 400-metres.” Brown handed the baton to Sarah Wells of Unionville, Ont. “The four of us have never run together, we wanted to go out there, do our best and show that Canada belongs. We ran a seasonal best, we’re proud of that, but there’s definitely room to improve.” Wells handed off to Noelle Montcalm of Windsor, Ont. “I felt pretty good, didn’t want to go out too hard. Running the 400-metre hurdles is definitely a different rhythm than this. I wanted to maintain my position or gain on the girls ahead of me.” Montcalm handed the baton to anchor Jenna Martin of Bridgewater, N.S. “I got a little excited and tried to catch the girls in front of me right away. I tried my best, that’s all I can ask for and it was fun running with these ladies.”

Tremaine Harris of Markham, Ont., placed fifth in heat two of the first round of the men’s 200-metres in a time of 20.68 seconds. “The plan was to run as hard as I can to make the semi-final. I competed to the best of my ability, hopefully I can get into the semi-final on time and prove that I can run a lot faster then that.” Harris did not qualify on time. “It sucks to run the way I did after training so hard the whole year.”

Krista Woodward of Vancouver, B.C., finished eight in Group A of the women’s javelin qualifying with a best toss of 58.86-metres. She did not qualify for the final. “I felt pretty good, hit my first throw well. I knew though that it wouldn’t be enough to get me into the final, I had to really go for it on the next two throws and kind of overthrew them. I needed 60-metres and I didn’t get it.”

Team Canada schedule for day 8 of IAAF World Championship

*Pending earlier qualification