Canada's Philibert-Thiboutot looks to finish stronger at Continental Cup track meet

Wondering what could have been, even after running a personal- or season-best time, has been a common theme for Charles Philibert-Thiboutot in recent years.

At the NACAC track and field championships last month in Toronto, the Canadian led the men's 1,500 metres until the final 100 when Izaic Yorks and fellow American Patrick Casey passed him, leaving Philibert-Thiboutot to finish third for the third time in six races this season.

​"The last 100 has been a weakness the last few years," says the Quebec City native, one of five Canadians set to compete for the Americas team at the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic, which will be live streamed at CBCSports.ca on Saturday (8:10 a.m. ET) and Sunday (8:20 a.m. ET).

• WATCH LIVE: IAAF Continental Cup, Saturday at 8:10 am ET

"Why am I not able to hang with these guys in the last 100, even when I have energy left?"

The middle-distance runner and his coach, Felix-Antoine Lapointe, believe they found the answer over the past month while watching Philibert-Thiboutot's races on YouTube from the 2015 Pan Am Games and Rio Olympics, where he placed third (3:41.79) and 16th (3:40.79), respectively.

They discovered Philibert-Thiboutot's leg turnover was much slower than most of his competitors who had finished strong. Trying to reach further with his legs in a burst of speed over the final 100 metres, the coach determined, actually made the Canadian runner's leg turnover slower.

• Charles Philibert-Thiboutot wins 3rd straight Canadian 1,500-metre title
• PROFILE | Shawn Barber just wants to 'jump big bars' again

Recently, Philibert-Thiboutot has worked at getting his feet on the ground faster rather than lengthening his stride down the stretch.

"When I reach the final 100 [now], my cadence is going to go from 170 steps a minute to 185, 190," says the 27-year-old. "In the first few workouts it didn't feel natural or that I was running well but my coach said, 'Your stride has never been that nice.' I'm excited to see how it's going to play out."

Philibert-Thiboutot prepared for the Continental Cup with a second-place finish on Wednesday night in the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile, clocking 3:56.62, or two seconds shy of his PB in the mile (1,600m), set in June 2015.

Philibert-Thiboutot says his fitness has nearly returned to its peak level from Rio after a late start to the season following issues with his left Achilles and a sciatic nerve problem that required physiotherapy, posture work and strengthening exercises, although there was never an official diagnosis.

Since Philibert-Thiboutot couldn't prove his fitness — unable to sprint full out until May — the IAAF didn't allow him to race the early portion of the Diamond League schedule, so the Canadian was forced to compete in lesser races in the Czech Republic, Sweden and Belgium.

In between, Philibert-Thiboutot clocked 3:46.19 in Ottawa to win his third consecutive Canadian title, defeating 2015 champion Thomas Riva by 75-100ths of a second.

"My season best [of 3:37.21] is fairly far from my [3:34.23] PB but I'm definitely in 3:34-type shape," Philibert-Thiboutot says.

At 10:48 a.m. ET on Sunday, he will attempt the PB hat trick in Ostrava, where he ran the 1,000 in 2:20.04 in 2015 and three months ago clocked 7:45.03 in the 3,000.

"It would be amazing," he says. "That's Plan A, right? Run a PB and win. It's always a goal but I'll be running against the current world champion [Elijah Manangoi of Kenya], [17-year-old] European champion [Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway] and some of the best guys in the world.

"Of the [six other] runners on the start line, everyone has run 3:35 or faster this season, so it's going to be a great test for me."

No individual medals

Formerly known as the IAAF World Cup, the Continental Cup will be the first senior global track and field competition held in the Czech Republic. Team Americas, comprised of athletes from North America, South America and the Caribbean, will battle Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific, with each represented by two athletes or one relay team in each discipline at the quadrennial event.

Athletes try to collect team points for their continental teams — not win individual medals — and will be ranked according to their finishing position (one to eight), with teammates' placings added together to determine a team ranking.

Here are the four other Canadians competing for the $30,000 US top prize in their respective events:

Mo Ahmed, men's 3,000m (Sunday, 11:15 a.m. ET): Ahmed, 27, left last week's Diamond League final with "mixed emotions" after running a season-best 13 minutes 3.08 seconds in the 5,000 to place ninth of 13 finishers. The Somalian-born, St. Catharines-Ont.-raised athlete won a Canadian title earlier in the summer and Commonwealth Games silver in the 5,000 and 10,000 in April. 

Watch Mo Ahmed reflect on his Diamond League final performance:

Mo Ahmed has 'mixed emotions' as Diamond League season wraps up

6 years ago

Duration 3:22

The St. Catharines, Ont. native finished ninth in the men's 5,000m race at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium.

Shawn Barber, men's pole vault (Sunday, 9:32 a.m. ET): The 24-year-old placed third (5.83 metres) in Brussels a week ago after a slow start for his first podium finish at a Diamond League event in nine attempts this season. A Canadian/American citizen who calls Toronto home, Barber has a season-best vault of 5.92, set at the Texas Relays on March 31.

Watch Shawn Barber's 1st try at 5.83 metres in Brussels:

Toronto's Shawn Barber wins bronze at Diamond League final

6 years ago

Duration 0:56

The 2015 IAAF world champion cleared 5.83 metres to finish third in men's pole vault at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium.

Matt Hughes, men's 3,000 steeplechase (Saturday, 9:59 a.m. ET): Hughes placed 11th in a 12-man field at the Diamond League final, crossing the line in 8:36.69 — 13 seconds slower than his seventh-place performance three weeks ago at the Müller Grand Prix in England, and far off his 8:12.33 season-best. The frustrated five-time Canadian champion from Oshawa, Ont., shared some of his feelings on Twitter.

Christabel Nettey, women's long jump (Sunday, 10:25 a.m. ET): The Surrey, B.C., native finished seventh at the Diamond League final, topping out at 6.52 metres on the second of her six attempts. Nettey, who has won seven of 14 events this season, followed up with a 6.21 effort last Sunday in Germany. The 27-year-old's season best is 6.92.

Watch Cristabel Nettey's 2nd jump at the Diamond League final:

Canada's Christabel Nettey finishes 7th in Diamond League final

6 years ago

Duration 1:08

Surrey, B.C.'s Christabel Nettey's best jump, at 6.52 metres, landed her in seventh place in the women's long jump, at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium.