The quest to find Ontario’s fastest kids will make a stop in Guelph next week, during the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival.
This annual festival, held at the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium, is known to attract international athletes and some of the top talents from throughout Canada as they seek enough World Athletics qualifying points to punch their ticket to the Olympic Summer Games in Paris.
In addition to various running distances, competitions on Tuesday include pole vault and long jump.
As well, children born in 2012 or later are eligible to take part in Athletics Ontario’s effort to find the province’s fastest kids. Participants must be registered by 11:59 p.m. tonight (May 30).
“The future of Ontario track and field may very well be competing in these races,” said Paul Osland, chief executive officer of Athletics Ontario, in a news release. “How fast can our kids run? It will be exciting to find out. We have seen future collegiate and international athletes come out of this event in the past.
“The Ontario’s Fastest Kids initiative is a great program for them to come out, get introduced to track events and have some fun.”
This is the first time the Ontario’s Fastest Kids program has been held since 2012.
Among the athletes taking part at that time was 2024 Olympic hopeful Myles Misener-Daley, who won the boy’s competition and went on to run for UCLA and recently represented Canada at the World Athletics Relay Championships in the Bahamas.
Fellow 2024 Olympic hopeful Ibrahim Ayorinde also competed that year, and went on to compete for Princeton in the NCAA before joining Misener-Daley in the Bahamas.
Brianna Gayle won the girls competition in 2012 and later competed in the NCAA.
The Inferno festival is one of six qualifying stops throughout the province for Ontario Athletics as it gathers competitors for the Ontario’s Fastest Kids finals in Toronto on July 20.
Two prospective Canadian Olympians are slated to hand out medals to winners at the Guelph meet:
- Lucia Stafford began running in Grade 4 and made her international debut at the 2016 U20 World Athletics Championships after winning the national junior title in the 1500m. Stafford competed for the University of Toronto, winning multiple USPORTS and OUA titles and earning MVP honours. She overcame a stress fracture in 2019 to win double gold at the 2020 USPORTS Championships. She also represented Canada at the 2019 FISU Universiade, finishing fifth in both the 1500m and 4x400m relay. She ran a personal best of 4:02.37 on May 18th to auto-qualify for the Olympics; with a medal at the Canadian Olympic Trials in June, she will guarantee her spot on Canada’s 2024 Paris Olympic team.
- Madeleine Kelly started running at the age of 12 and ran for the University of Toronto, where she was a four-time CIS/USPORTS Champion with the Varsity Blues’ relay team, winning three straight 4x800m titles from 2016 to 2018 and a 4x400m title in 2017, along with the USPORTS Cross Country team title in 2017. In June 2021, Kelly ran a personal best of 2:00.11 in the 800m at a meet in Windsor, and just weeks later, she won bronze at the Canadian Olympic Trials, earning her spot at Tokyo 2020.
To register for the Guelph qualifier for Ontario’s Fastest Kid at the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival, click here.
