Manitoba track athletes nominated for Olympic team

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This article was published 11/07/2016 (3615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Athletics Canada has confirmed three Manitobans are expected to be a part of the Canadian track and field contingent headed to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil next month.

Women’s 1500m competitor Nicole Sifuentes and women’s 3000m steeplechase athlete Erin Teschuk will be the province’s two athletic representatives when the games kick off on Aug. 5.

Winnipeg’s Jared MacLeod joins the coaches and support team as team manager.

The announcement caps off a busy few days for Canada’s track and field hopefuls, all of whom earned their spots at the Canadian Championships and Selection Trials this past weekend in Edmonton.

Sifuentes placed second in the women’s 1500m event on Saturday, locking up her spot on her second Olympic team. Sifuentes reached the semifinals at the Games in London, England in 2012

Teschuk will take part in her first Olympics after capturing her second straight national title on Friday night in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event.

A North Dakota State University student/athlete who was honoured as a seven-time All-American even though she is Canadian, Teschuk also placed fourth at least year’s Pan American Games in her favoured event.

MacLeod, meanwhile, is a former Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games track athlete who competed in high hurdles and won a silver medal at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Turkey.

MacLeod currently holds the title of operations manager for national team programs at Athletics Canada.

“Following a very competitive Trials in Edmonton, we have nominated a versatile and focused group of athletes who will be ready to perform on-demand in Rio,” said Athletics Canada head coach Peter Eriksson in a release. The team is comprised of veterans who have already experienced international success, and up-and-coming athletes who are ready to take the next step.”

All nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee prior to being named to the final Canadian team. The track and field team has 65 athletes, 10 coaches and a support team.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca