Favour Okpali finishes eighth in the women’s 400m final, Georgia Oland qualifies for women’s 200m semi-finals
Favour Okpali (Toronto, ON / Western University) finished eighth overall in the women’s 400m final, and Georgia Oland qualified for the women’s 200m semi-finals to highlight day three of Athletics action in Bochum, Germany.
Oland (Calgary, AB / University Calgary) – the 2025 U SPORTS Women’s Student Athlete Community Award Winner and three-time medalist in the 4x200 relay – crossed the line in 24.23 seconds, third overall in her heat. Doyinsola Ogunremi (Ottawa, ON / University of Ottawa) also finished in 25.14 seconds in heat four of the event.
In the 400m final, Okpali reached the finish in 53.87 seconds, capping a spectacular two days of competition in the event, which saw her race three times overall.
Jordan Soufi (Winnipeg, MB / University of Manitoba) – the Bisons’ school record holder in the 60m – and Joshua Duckman (Toronto, ON / Western University) – who helped Western win the men’s U SPORTS National Championship for the first time in 13 years – both blazed to strong times in the men’s 200m.
Soufi was stride for stride with the lead pack until the final straight, finishing at 21.74 seconds, fourth in his heat. Meanwhile, Duckman sprinted to a time of 21.76 seconds, sixth overall in his heat.
In the afternoon’s field events, Wesley Eze (Calgary, AB / University of Alberta) – the 2025 Canada West Field Athlete of the Year – finished 11th in group A qualification of men’s shot put. He moved up one place from his seeding with a toss of 16.19m on attempt three.
In group B, A.J. Stanat (St. Thomas, ON / University of Windsor) threw over 17m on all three attempts, moving up one place from his seeding for tenth overall with a best toss of 17.25m on attempt one.
Additionally, Jessica Gyamfi (London, ON / University of Ottawa) – who re-taught herself French in order to study in UOttawa’s French Immersion program for nursing – tied for eighth in group B discus qualification.
Sophie Coutts (Toronto, ON) got the evening session for Canada started with an impressive run in the women’s 800m semi-finals, finishing sixth in her heat and 17th overall in the event in a time of 2:06.13.
At the long jump pit, Western standouts Kenneth West (Brampton, ON) and Arman Shahzadeh (Richmond Hill, ON) – who finished first and second in the event at U SPORTS nationals – both jumped over 7.30m. Shahzadeh finished tenth in group A, with a best leap of 7.37 on attempt two, while West, the U SPORTS record holder (7.88m), had a top jump of 7.34 on attempt one.
Rounding out the action was Robin Selkirk (Whitby, ON / Western University), who completed four events in the women’s heptathlon. She ran a season’s best time of 26.52 seconds in the 200m, earning 752 points. Selkirk’s best showing points-wise was the 100m hurdles, where she finished in 15.17 seconds for 819 points. She also extended 1.59m in high jump, while tossing above 11m twice in shot put.
Twelve Canadians are in action tomorrow, along with numerous relay teams.