Ethan Katzberg, the current champion in men’s hammer throw at the Olympics and world level, secured another victory at the Canadian track and field championship in Ottawa over the weekend. Hailing from Nanaimo, B.C., Katzberg, who previously clinched gold in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics and in Budapest at the 2023 World Championships, dominated the competition with a throw of 81.33 meters. This marked a comfortable win over the second-place finisher, Jeremiah Nubbe (71.78) of the Kamloops Track and Field Club, and third-place finisher Rowan Hamilton (71.25) of Chilliwack, B.C.
Katzberg set the Canadian record of 84.38 meters on April 20, 2024, and also established the national championship record of 82.60 meters on June 26, 2024.
In the men’s 800 meters, Marco Arop, residing in Edmonton and the reigning world champion, narrowly outpaced Justin O’Toole from Montreal at the finish line on Saturday. Arop finished with a time of 1:45.44, just 0.7 seconds ahead of O’Toole, while Matti Erickson from Nelson, B.C., secured the third spot with a time of 1:45.97.
For the women’s 800-meter final, Maeliss Trapeau from the Ottawa Lions track club crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:01.79, narrowly edging out Jazz Shukla (2:01.95) from Toronto. Jenica Swartz from the Edmonton Columbians track club claimed the third position with a time of 2:02.46.