Under blue skies and blazing sunshine, St. Albert’s Rachel Francois set a season personal best on the track at Edmonton’s Foote Field Saturday afternoon.
Francois was one of seven Canadians competing in the women’s 800 metres at the Edmonton International Track Classic. Ontario’s Melissa Bishop was first across the 800m finish line in 2:02.14.
Francois took fifth place 2:04.34, beating the 2:09.48 time she ran at the UW Invitational in Seattle this year.
The Paul Kane High School graduate says she was happy with the way she ran at the Classic, especially recovering from an injury.
“It was my third race of the season coming off a stress fracture,” Francois says. “I was just waiting for it to click, so it’s nice to feel like I’m running like myself again.”
The Edmonton International Track Classic is the largest of five stops in the 2013 National Track League Series. Among the competitors this weekend were 42 Olympians from the 2012 London games, including eight Olympic medallists.
Francois says that to prepare for the race, she did everything she could do physically to feel good. Mentally, she came in “just wanting a personal best and getting back in the groove of racing.” Francois’ personal best in the 800m is 2:03.97.
Before hitting the track in Edmonton this year, Francois, a University of Victoria student with the Vikes’ team, earned a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) gold medal, and a Canada West silver medal in the women’s 600 metre. She is a CIS first team All-Canadian and in 2012 was named Canada West rookie of the year.
Francois’ talent on the track has earned her place as a 2016 development athlete with the Canadian Olympic team. It’s an experience that she says is awesome.
“I love it,” says Francois. “I get to train with the best in the country, I get to race with the best in the world.”
The 20-year-old is focused on making the Canadian Olympic team and representing her country at the Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016.
“It would be everything. That is the only goal,” Francois says. “Everything I do revolves around getting to that.”
Competing in the Olympics is more than just a personal goal for Francois – it’s a family legacy. Her father Andre competed for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the men’s 200 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“If we both go, we’ll get matching Olympic tattoos,” says Francois. “It’s kind of good motivation.”
