Canadian women’s relay team sets national record at Olympics

The Canadian women’s relay team made history today at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The women’s team, consisting of Sade McCreath, Jacqueline Madogo, Marie-Eloise Leclair, and Audrey Leduc set a national record, putting together a time of 42.50 seconds in the 4×100-metre relay.

Thanks to the impressive time, they finished fourth in their heat and have advanced to the final, which will take place on Friday at 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PT.

While it was an impressive race from all four runners, it was Audrey Leduc who shined the brightest, putting together a memorable close that saw her pass three runners in order to put her team in fourth place.

It’s been quite the showing for Leduc at this year’s Games. She was able to set another national record in the women’s 100m heat last week, putting up a fantastic time of just 10.95 seconds. By doing so, she bested her own previous record of 10.96.

Today wasn’t just a successful day for Canada on the women’s side of track, either. The men’s 4×100-metre relay team of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney, and Andre De Grasse finished third in their heat with a time of 38.39 seconds. They too will move on to race in the final tomorrow.

It was a particularly impressive effort from De Grasse, who admitted yesterday that a nagging hamstring injury has made it difficult for him to do what he does best. He will have an opportunity to pick up his eighth Olympic medal tomorrow, having won a combined seven split between Tokyo 2020 and 2016 Rio de Janeiro.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will also be looking to add to Canada’s medal total, which currently sits at 20. Six of those are gold, thanks in large part to 17-year-old swimmer Summer McIntosh, who racked up three.

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