Sports

Lauren Curtis won gold in the U18 Women’s Hammer Throw.

Photo courtesy Kajaks Track and Field Club

Richmond Kajaks athletes compete in Quebec

By Matthew Cheung

Published 12:30 PDT, Fri September 1, 2023

Last Updated: 4:28 PDT, Mon September 18, 2023

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Between Aug. 11 and 13, Richmond Kajaks athletes travelled to Sherbrooke, Quebec to participate in the 2023 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships. The 45th edition of the event, coincided with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, such was commemorated on the medals.

The Legion National Championships was started 45 years ago by the Royal Canadian Legion in an effort to support Canadian youth and communities, by giving young Canadians an opportunity to develop their skills. For years, thousands of Legion volunteers have given up their time organizing and coordinating the youth track and field championships. Through the events, many have gone on to represent their country in international events like the Olympics, while others learned valuable lessons in leadership, teamwork, and many other skills.

In the early 1950’s the Ontario Legion Hydro branch, under the late Bob Saunders, chairman, and the late George Duthie, manager of sports development at the Canadian National Exhibition, sponsored the former Canadian Olympic Training plan. In 1957, the Royal Canadian Legion entered the national track and field scene, conducting national athlete’s clinics in Toronto.

In 1962, the Legion received support from the federal government for the first Canadian National Clinic in Guelph, Ontario. In 1975, the first Canada-wide track and field meet was conducted in Waterloo, Ontario, the event was so successful that a second meet was conducted in Edmonton, Alberta, the following year.

Since then, the nation-wide track and field meet has become an annual event, with local legion branches bidding for the right to host the event.
This year, over 900 young Canadian athletes competed in the under-16 and under-18 track and field championships.

From Richmond, athletes from the Kajaks Track and Field Club finished strong, with some winning medals in their respective events while others achieved personal bests in their young athletic careers.

16-year-old Lawrence Man won gold in the U18 Men’s Hammer Throw, having won back in 2022 at the age of 15, Man was determined to reclaim the title. He arrived in Sherbrooke, Quebec as the top ranked competitor in the country, throughout the event he was tied for first place at 53.39m before winning by 0.62m.

Lauren Curtis won gold in the U18 Women’s Hammer Throw. Chase Longley was awarded a silver medal in the U16 Men’s Hammer Throw. While Caidyn Maver won bronze in their U18 Men’s High Jump.

Svetlana Krisanova placed fourth in the U16 Women’s High Jump and 20th in the U16 Women’s 80m Hurdles. Elise Drake placed fifth in the U18 Women’s Hammer Throw.

Katherine Kennedy placed seventh in the U16 1500m Steeplechase, achieving a personal best, 23rd in the U16 800m and 27th in the U16 2000m. Sofia Varma-Vitug placed eighth in the U18 Women’s Triple Jump and 25th in the U18 Women’s 100m. Zachary Kennedy placed tenth in the U18 Men’s 2000m Steeplechase and achieved a personal best.