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OTTAWA — Madeleine Kelly of Pembroke is one of 33 athletes selected to represent Team Canada in athletics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, which take place from July 28 to August 8, 2022.
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The announcement was made today by Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) and Athletics Canada.
These 33 athletes join the 10 Paralympic athletes who had already been selected to represent Team Canada in track and field at the Games.
“It’s a very diverse group of talented athletes who have been selected to this team,” said Carla Nicholls, Para Head Coach and Para Performance Manager at Athletics Canada. “I have no doubt that we will see some incredible performances from this team.”
Kelly, who competed for Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, which took place in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, recently competed in the 39th Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Although she had a tough start in the women’s 800 metres, she finished first with a time of 2:02.22.
“I didn’t come off the line particularly well, so being last or near last to the cut was not the goal,” she said. “But once that happened I just wanted to practice staying calm and navigating the peloton well because that can happen in a championship and then you just have to do your best with the place in which you put on.”
After finishing 31st in the 800 meters in Tokyo, Kelly had a strong start to the 2022 season, posting two times under two minutes.
She had hoped for a better time in Burnaby, but was happy to take first place.
“It’s not the moment I wanted, but a win a win and it’s a great group of women, so yeah, I’m leaving happy,” she said.
The size of the team of 33 able-bodied athletes selected for the Commonwealth Games was dictated by a quota allocation from Commonwealth Sport Canada. Athletes were ranked and selected to the team based on their closeness, in World Athletics points, to the AC ranking standard in their respective events. AC Ranking Standards have been calculated using the top three average performances among Commonwealth nations (limited to three per country) over the 2018, 2019 and 2021 competitive seasons (COVID disrupted 2020 season excluded).
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The athletics competition will take place at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium from July 30 to August 7 and will feature 24 men’s events and 24 women’s events for able-bodied athletes. On the para-athletics side, there will be six women’s events and six men’s events: the 100m (T12), the 100m (T38), the 100m (T47), the 1,500m (T54), the marathon (T54) and shot put (F38/F55).
Birmingham 2022 will feature 19 sports and eight para-sports as part of its program with up to 4,500 athletes participating. The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event that features equal status for sport and para-sport events, and these 2022 Games will feature the largest para-sport program ever. In addition, for the first time in its history, the Games will include more medal events for women (135) than for men (133).
ABOUT TEAM CANADA 2022
The 2022 Commonwealth Games will feature 71 participating nations and territories taking part in the Games. The Commonwealth Games are a valuable opportunity as a springboard and development opportunity for Canadian athletes, coaches and managers working towards Olympic and Paralympic success. Canada’s performance projection in 2022 is a top 3 ranking, by total number of medals, among all competing nations and territories. Commonwealth athletes won over 80% of Canada’s medals at the 2020 Olympics
Team Canada’s dedicated mission team will provide an optimal environment by celebrating equality, diversity and non-discrimination. This supports our necessary goals to enable the best-ever performance by Canadian athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith of THE CANADIAN PRESS and Commonwealth Sport Canada
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