On Saturday, London, Ont.’s Rachel Forsyth sped to silver in the women’s 1,500m at the 2024 U20 World Championships in Peru, becoming the first Canadian woman to medal in the distance at a World Junior Championship event. 18-year-old Forsyth finished in 4:17.94, behind Ethiopia’s Saron Berhe, who ran 4:16.64 and followed in by Jolanda Kallabis of Germany in 4:19.34.
HISTORY FOR 🇨🇦!
Rachel Forsyth has won 🥈 in women’s 1,500m at the 2024 U20 World Championships in Peru.
She is now the first 🇨🇦 woman EVER to medal in the 1,500m event at a World Junior Champs. 👏 https://t.co/fx4h2UzDP2
— Marley Dickinson (@marleydickinson) August 31, 2024
Forsyth is the reigning U20 national champion in the 1,500m and holds a personal best of 4:17.00, which she set at the Ontario Track and Field Championships last month. Her personal best is almost eight seconds below the world U20 qualifying standard of 4:24.80.
“It was awesome,” Forsyth told Athletics Canada post-race. “It started out pretty congested, I had to backtrack to get around a couple of times, but I knew that if I could make my way around I could kick pretty hard in the end, so I’m happy with it.” She will be beginning her NCAA career with Michigan State University in the fall—where she will be following in the footsteps of sisters Anne and Sarah, and her parents Ian and Jessica, all star runners. I picked Michigan State because my sister already runs on the team and I felt really connected to the head coach and am confident that I will keep improving in my sport, while having a fun time with the team,” Forsyth told We Love Ann Arbor earlier this year.
Full results of the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, held from Aug. 27 to Aug. 31 in Lima, Peru, can be found here.
