Trinity Western University alum Regan Yee ('18, South Hazelton, B.C.) set the Canadian record and earned Olympic standard in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:27.54 at the La Classique d'athlétisme de Montréal on June 29, 2021. With this result, Yee will earn a spot on Athletic Canada's Tokyo-bound Olympic team, making her the first Spartan track and field alum to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Just four days earlier, Yee had won the national championship at the Olympic trials in Montreal with a time of 9:31.46, but on June 29 – just hours before the Olympic qualification window closed – Yee put together the best 3000m steeplechase performance in Canadian history by knocking three and half seconds off her personal best. She bettered the previous Canadian record of 9:29.82, which was held by Genevieve Lalonde. The Olympic standard was 9:30. On June 13, Yee he had posted a then personal best of 9:31.07 to win at the Harry Jerome Classic in Burnaby, B.C.
Yee will now set her sights on Tokyo with wins in each of her last three races and a Canadian record in her back pocket.
"My coach, Mark (Bomba) just said 'Go out there and don't be scared. Don't run with fear. Go out there and run,'" Yee said. "We had a great pacer for the first couple of laps and I went with her and I felt good, so I just kept running.
"I'm still a little bit in shock. I've trained super hard for the last eight years. I knew that it was in me and training has been going really well, but to actually get out there and be able to execute that race and have that time…yea, it's pretty surreal.
"The weather was perfect and I had my teammate Alycia (Butterworth) with me and we were both in a really good place, so everything lined up perfectly for this race to happen."
Just days before her record-setting race, Yee also announced she had officially signed with Under Armour.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yee's last major international competition was in the fall of 2019 when she competed in the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. She finished 11th in her heat in 9:48.56.
The Summer Olympics are set to begin July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
See this story featured in the Langley Advance Times and in Ming Pao Canada.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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