Sarah Mitton tops shot put qualification as Team Canada shines in sprint relays at Paris 2024

With Canadian athletes having already earned three medals on the field at Stade de France, Sarah Mitton is looking to add a fourth.

The 28-year-old shot putter threw for 19.77m in her first attempt in Thursday’s qualification round, good for first overall. She will compete in the shot put final on Friday.

She’s now looking to join Ethan Katzberg (gold in men’s hammer throw), Camryn Rogers (gold in women’s hammer throw) and Alysha Newman (bronze in women’s pole vault) on the Paris 2024 podium.

READ: Shot putter Sarah Mitton on her Olympic goals and inspiring the next generation

Like Katzberg and Rogers, Mitton came into Paris 2024 as a reigning world champion in her event. She claimed that crown at this year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships. That followed her silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Then this past May, she threw a national record of 20.68m, which is the world-leading mark for the year.

In her first Olympic experience at Tokyo 2020, Mitton threw 16.62m in qualifying. She called those Games a “huge learning curve” but is feeling “pretty darn good” about reaching the finals in Paris.

“I already feel like I’ve had the Olympic experience for myself,” she said. “For Canada, I’m going to go out there and try to win a gold medal, or any medal.”

Mitton only threw once on Thursday, having comfortably cleared the 19.15m standard for automatic qualification in her first attempt.

“I’m just feeling really relaxed and really confident, and that’s the space I wanted to be in. So, happy with the one and done, and I’m ready to come back,” she said.

“You don’t need to throw far today, you just need to throw far enough. I think that was a nice easy throw and I think I can really build on that.”

Looking to earn their own podium finishes are Canada’s 4x100m relay teams, both of whom were in action on Day 13.

The women’s team of Audrey Leduc, Jacqueline Madogo, Sade McCreath and Marie-Éloise Leclair set a new Canadian record of 42.50 seconds in their first round heat. That time sent them through to Friday’s final.

“To finally make [the national record] happen here—as much as it’s magical, it’s what we worked for, and this is the team we are,” said Leclair. The previous record of 42.60 had stood since 2015.

On the men’s side, the quartet of Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake finished third in their first round heat in 38.39 seconds. That put them straight through to their final on Friday.

Canada won bronze in the event at Rio 2016, and silver at Tokyo 2020. They’ve faced challenges in Paris, including a mistake by Rodney in the hand-off on Thursday, and a lingering hamstring issue that hampered De Grasse in the men’s 200m event.

“We’re all a little bit fatigued but tomorrow we should be OK to go,” said De Grasse. “It was tough. I’ve just got to push through [the hamstring issue]. One more race, give it all I’ve got, and go from there.”

Despite things not going exactly to plan this season and at these Games, the entire team is ready to, as De Grasse said, give it all they’ve got in this last race.

“I’m grateful and very thankful that I’m able to make my second Olympic team, come out here and put on for Canada and run with these guys again,” said Blake. “We have an opportunity to go win a medal tomorrow, so that’s what we’re focused on right now.”

Later on in the evening in Paris, just-turned-21-year-old Savannah Sutherland took part in a blazing-fast women’s 400m hurdles final. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the USA set a new world record of 50.37 seconds to win gold. Sutherland, with a time of 53.88, finished seventh.

Earlier on Day 13, Michelle Harrison competed in the repechage round of the women’s 100m hurdles, but her time of 13.30 wasn’t enough to join Mariam Abdul-Rashid in Friday’s semifinal.