Olympic standards met by Canadians at Payton Jordan

It wasn't long ago that Canada couldn't even field enough competitors to contest the women's 10,000m at the national track and field championships.

Now there are two athletes running under 32 minutes and four running under 33 minutes for the track 10K.

Natasha Wodak of Port Moody, B.C., clocked 31:41.59 at the Payton Jordan meet, Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif., breaking Courtney Babcock's national record of 31:44.74 set in 2003. 

The same race saw Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., who holds the Canadian marathon record and will contest that distance at the Pan Am Games, set a new 10,000m personal best of 31:46.94.

Both Wodak and Marchant made the Rio Olympic standard, which is 32:15. 

Two other Canadians — Rachel Hannah of Toronto (32:36.17) and Rachel Cliff of Vancouver (32:54.70) — also got in under the 33-minute barrier.

Also of note, Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., got the Olympic standard in the men's 10,000m with a time of 27:46.90. The standard is for the 2016 Games is 28:00. Matt Hughes (13:19.56) and Jessica O'Connal (15:06.44) made standard in the men's and women's 5,000m, respectively, while Taylor Milne and Alex Genest also qualified in the 3,000m steeplechase.

A potential future Olympian, Justyn Knight of Toronto, broke a 52-year-old Canadian junior record in the 5,000m. He ran 13:34.86, eclipsing Bruce Kidd's old mark of 13:43.8.

Relay records, Bolt loses

Meanwhile, at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas, two Canadian teams met the qualification criteria for the Rio Olympics. The women's 4x100m team of Crystal Emmanuel, Kimberly Hyacinthe, Shai-Anne Davis and Khamica Bingham of finished fourth and broke the Canadian record in both rounds of competition, including a 42.85 in the final. 

The women's 4x400-metres team of Nicole Sassine, Fawn Dorr, Carline Muir, and Audrey Jean-Baptiste, ran strong in the qualifying round to qualify for the final where they placed sixth in a time of 3:29.65. The top eight finish for the women's 4x400-metres also secured a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The meet in Nassau also marked a rare occasion — a race that Usain Bolt lost. Bolt and the Jamaican men's 4x100m team were beaten by the Americans, who ran a world-leading 37.38 seconds.

Barber sets new pole vault record

Also on May 2, Shawn Barber broke the Canadian pole vault record, clearing 5.91m at Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas.