Canadian track and field trials for Tokyo Games to remain in Montreal

MONTREAL – The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic track and field trials for next year’s Tokyo Games will remain in Montreal.

Athletics Canada announced Thursday that the trials will take place next year at Montreal’s Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. The event is expected to be held June 24-27.

Montreal was scheduled to hold the trials in Montreal this year from June 25-28, but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trials will serve as the final event to determine the athletes nominated to the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams competing in Tokyo next summer.

Montreal hosted the Canadian Track and Field Championships in 2019. The last Olympic trials held in Montreal were in 1996.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will take place July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021, after being postponed for a year due to the novel coronavirus. The Paralympic Games will run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.

“Postponing the 2020 trials was the right decision, no matter how disappointing it was to the athletes, coaches and staff working towards their Olympic and Paralympic dreams,” Athletics Canada chief executive officer David Bedford said in a statement. “It was also disappointing to the great track and field fans of Montreal, as well as our local and national partners who were committed to putting on a world-class event. When it came time to set our sights on 2021, we were proud to bring these trials back to Montreal.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020