York University Lions thrower Brittany Crew has punched her ticket to Rio after setting a personal best and earning the gold medal in the women's shot put during the 2016 Canadian Championships and Rio Selection Trials in Edmonton, Alta., July 7 to 10.
Brittany Crew sets up her throw
After meeting the Olympic standard in the shot put earlier this year, Crew, needed a top-three finish in Edmonton to guarantee herself a spot on the 2016 Olympic team. She came through with a personal best throw of 18.06m on her second attempt of the day, which easily bested second place finisher Taryn Suttie who came in with a throw of 16.71m.
The throw by Crew was only 6cm off the Canadian Championships record and 25cm off the all-time Canadian women's shot put record. It was also the furthest throw by a Canadian women's shot putter in over four years.
Crew also brought home some other hardware on the weekend, picking up a bronze medal in the women's discus with a heave of 49.22m. The reigning two-time York female athlete of the year will now set her sights on the Rio Olympics, where the women's shot put event will be held on Aug. 12, the first day of track and field competition.
Crew wasn't the only Lions thrower to bring home gold over the weekend. Jonathan Raspanti finished first in the junior men's discus with a throw of 50.27m. The well-rounded thrower recently won a bronze medal in the hammer throw at the Ontario Track & Field Championships and picks up his first gold medal at the Canadian Championships. Raspanti's teammate Drew Erskine also had a successful weekend, placing fourth in the junior men's hammer throw (54.47m).
Lions triple jumper Nick Fyffe also had an outstanding weekend as he leaped his way to a fifth-place finish in the senior men's triple jump (14.83m). Fyffe, who won his second consecutive gold medal in triple jump at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships this year, finished second in qualifying to earn a spot in the national final.
Leading the way for former Lions on the track in Edmonton was Ingvar Moseley, who won a bronze medal in the senior men's 110m hurdles in a time of 13.89 seconds. Recently graduated sprinter Bismark Boateng also placed sixth in the senior men's 200m (20.93) followed closely by former teammate Dontae Richards-Kwok who came in seventh (20.98). Former Lions thrower Chris Preece fell just short of the national podium with a fourth-place finish in the men's hammer throw (57.61m).
On the women's side, former Lions sprinter Khamica Bingham placed fourth in the women's 100m in a time of 11.44 seconds. Bingham, who won the event in 2015 and anchored the women's 4x100m team which qualified for Rio last summer, has been battling an injury but is still expected to join Crew on the 2016 Rio Olympic team.