Hands on her head, Crystal Emmanuel looked skyward, waiting for the confirmation.
When she saw that Canada’s women’s 4×100 metre relay team had finished second in their race at World Athletics Relays and secured a spot in these Olympic Games in Paris, Emmanuel screamed.
The 32-year-old veteran anchor hugged Audrey Leduc, the up-and-coming sprinter who ran a speedy 10.18-second split before passing the baton to Emmanuel and cheering her on. Sade McCreath and Marie-Éloïse Leclair also ran for Canada in that race this past May in the Bahamas.
It was the past, present and future bringing Canada back to the women’s 4×100 metre relay at the Olympics for the first time since Rio in 2016. Emmanuel will compete at her fourth Olympics and 25-year-old Leduc will be at her first, as will McCreath and Leclair.
“Coming out here and seeing these ladies deliver the same way we can always deliver,” Emmanuel told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux after the race. “Qualifying this team and letting Canada know that we have a women’s 4×100 team going to the Olympics.”
WATCH | Canada’s 4×100 women’s relay team qualifies for the Olympics:
Canada’s Sade McCreath, Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Audrey Leduc and Crystal Emmanuel finishes second in their 4×100-metre heat at the World Athletics Relays with a season’s best time of 42.98 to advance to Sunday’s final and secure a place at Paris 2024.
For the last decade, much of the chatter around Canada’s sprinters has been about the men, led by Andre De Grasse, who owns six Olympic medals coming into these Games.
But Canada has female sprinting talent too, something the members of this team want the world to know.
“It’s so incredibly important because of course the men have done a great job individually and as a relay team, but we have talented women as well,” McCreath, the 28-year-old sprinter from Ajax, Ont., told CBC Sports in July.
“And it’s a shame that we haven’t been able to showcase that.”
McCreath pointed to Leduc, who broke Canadian records in both the 100 metres (10.96 seconds) and 200 metres (22.36 seconds) this year, as proof of that. Leduc is set to compete in both distances in Paris, and it feels like she’s getting started.
The 100-metre record Leduc smashed in April hadn’t been touched for more than three decades, having been set by the late Angela Bailey in 1987.
She came into the national team program around the same time as McCreath, and the two have been roommates at every camp and event.
“She’s quiet, keeps her head down and just works,” McCreath said about Leduc.
Athletics competition starts Thursday, and the women’s 4×100 metre relay begins Aug. 8 at 5:10 a.m. ET. The final is set for Aug. 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
For the 4×100 relay team, getting back to the Olympics has been a long journey. There have been obstacles on the way from missing out in Tokyo to not making the cut for the final at worlds in 2022, to name just two.
To finally be able to get that team back in the Olympics meant “everything,” McCreath said.
WATCH | Emmanuel reacts to qualifying the 4×100 relay team for the Olympics:
The 32-year-old sprinter reacts to running the anchor leg of the women’s 4x100m relay that clinched an Olympic spot for the first time since 2016.
“For us to finally know we are good enough to get into the Olympics, it was just a solidifying moment for us that every disappointment we had was worth it for us to keep going, and finally show the rest of the world Canada also has great 4×100 sprinters.”
She credits the team’s chemistry as one of the reasons for its success. They all have different personalities, all bringing something different to the mix.
But they all had one goal in mind: Paris.
“It’s just a family at the end of the day who just knows each other’s needs and we help each other where we can,” McCreath said.
The goal, of course, is to win a medal at the Olympics.
If that doesn’t happen, McCreath said they’d like to break the national record of 42.60 seconds set back in 2015, a record Emmanuel helped set. It would show the team is making progress, getting a bit better every time.
Canada also has 4×400 women’s team
Zoe Sherar, Aiyanna Stiverne, Kyra Constantine and Alyssa Marsh propelled Canada’s women’s 4×400 metre relay team to an Olympic spot at World Athletics Relays in May, on top of the women’s 4×100 metre team.
The women’s 4×400 metre relay begins in Paris at 4:40 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 9. The final is on Aug. 10 at 3:22 p.m.
Ottawa’s Lauren Gale may also be called upon to run on the 4×400 team. It’ll be her second Olympics, but she never got the opportunity to run in Tokyo.
For her, what stands out about the 4×400 team going to Paris is how deep it is.
“I think you could probably sub in any one of our members that are going for the relay and we’d still run a great time,” she said.
Gale, who just missed qualifying in the mixed 4×400 relay, will also compete in the individual 400 metres in Paris.
Her best time at that distance this year is 50.47 seconds, No. 1 in the country among female sprinters.