De Grasse, LePage, Rogers among Canadian headliners for world athletics championships

OTTAWA — Decathlete Pierce LePage, hammer thrower Camryn Rogers and sprinters Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney headline the Canadian team for the upcoming world athletics championships.

Athletics Canada named its 50-athlete squad on Thursday for the Aug. 19-27 competition in Budapest.

“There is a lot of strength throughout the entire group that's been selected,” Canadian head coach Glenroy Gilbert said in a release. “If you look at the individuals that make up the team, there are obviously some heavy hitters.

"We're a very diverse group and we're expecting people to go out there and perform on demand.”

Canada finished tied for seventh with four medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze) at last year's world championships in Eugene, Ore.

Brown, Blake, Rodney and De Grasse won gold in the 4x100-metre men's relay. LePage and Rogers took silver and Marco Arop earned bronze in the 800 metres.

The federation also released the names of 47 athletes who may yet join the team, pending invitations from World Athletics on Saturday.

Athletics Canada said it expects two to four athletes from the list will be added to the team.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2023.

The Canadian Press