Canadian Operating and Below Armour have teamed up for the 2024 Canadian U Sports activities indoor observe and subject season to spotlight a number of the high homegrown skills throughout the nation. Every week main as much as the 2024 U Sports activities Indoor Monitor and Subject Championships in March, Canadian Operating will choose one female and male observe and subject athlete to be the Below Armour Athlete of the Week.
The athlete of the week will likely be a female and male observe and subject athlete who achieved a standout efficiency, broke a college file or crushed a private finest. Every week of the U-Sports activities 2024 season these athletes will likely be featured on Canadian Operating and awarded an Below Armour prize pack. Center-distance runner Julia Agostinelli of Guelph College and hurdler David Adeleye of the College of Toronto have been chosen because the inaugural Below Armour U Sports activities Athletes of the Week.
Feminine Athlete of the Week: Julia Agostinelli–ladies’s 1,000m
Agostinelli is a fourth-year scholar, competing for the Guelph Gryphons within the OUA convention. Over the weekend on the Can-AM Basic in Windsor, Ont., Agostinelli ran a private finest within the ladies’s 1,000m, clocking 2:47.46. This time robotically certified her for the 2024 U Sports activities Championships in Winnipeg in March. It was additionally her first race of the 2024 season.
“I’m blissful I executed my race precisely how I had deliberate it, and hitting the U Sports activities [1,000m] customary was a bonus,” says Agostinelli. She mentions that her coach, Terry Radchenko, has had her focus extra on her pace over the previous few weeks. “My objective is to proceed to be constant and intentional with my coaching,” she says. “I wish to put myself within the combine for some provincial and nationwide medal alternatives later this season.”
Agostinelli acknowledges that the success of her U Sports activities indoor season is essential for performing nicely in the summertime. “I plan to make my out of doors debut on the Bell Canadian Monitor and Subject Olympic Trials in June,” says Agostinelli. “We’ll see how far my legs will take me.”
Male Athlete of the Week: David Adeleye–males’s 60m hurdles
Adeleye, a third-year scholar and hurdler for the College of Toronto Varsity Blues, participated in six races over two days on the Can-AM Basic. He reached the ultimate in each the boys’s 60m and the 60m hurdles (his prized occasion), putting fifth within the 60m last and hitting the U Sports activities customary twice within the 60m hurdles heats and finals. Adeleye achieved a season’s finest of seven.98 seconds, solely three one-hundredths of a second shy of his private finest (7.95s).
Regardless of having a messy race within the last, Adeleye was happy to stroll away with one other sub-8 efficiency. “I do know I’m in form for a quick time and a private finest,” he says. “I’m simply engaged on being affected person and staying constant.”
Adeleye has excessive targets for the 2024 indoor season. The 21-year-old aspires to run 7.8 seconds for the 60m hurdles, win U Sports activities and provides himself a chance to compete for Canada and chase the world indoor championship customary of seven.62 seconds.
If you want to appoint a Canadian U Sports activities athlete for Below Armour Athlete of the Week, ship @canadianrunning a message on Instagram or electronic mail marley@runningmagazine.ca.