Six Brampton sprinters will lead Canadian athletics team at Tokyo Olympics

Six Brampton-area sprinters are among the 57 track and field athletes heading to Tokyo to represent Canada at the 2021 Olympic Games.

Named to the team are Khamica Bingham, Bismark Boateng, Kyra Constantine, Natassha McDonald, Brendon Rodney and Gavin Smellie. The athletics competitions are scheduled to take place July 30 to Aug. 8.

Canada’s athletics team will be looking to improve on their medal haul of six from the 2016 games in Brazil.

Here’s more information on the six local runners.

Khamica Bingham, 27, will be competing in the women’s 100 metres. She won a silver medal as part of the 4×100-m relay team at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru.

Bismark Boateng, 29, will be competing in both the men’s 100-m and the 4×100-m relay team.

Kyra Constantine, who will turn 23 during the Olympics, will compete in the women’s 400-m and 4×400-m relay. She won a silver medal as part of the 4×400-m relay team at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru. Constantine attended the University of Southern California where she holds numerous school records.

Natassha McDonald, 24, will also compete in the women’s 400-m and 4×400-m relay team. She won a silver medal as part of the 4×400-m relay team at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru.

Brendon Rodney, 29, will be competing in the men’s 200-m and 4×100-m relay team. He won a bronze medal as part of the 4x100m relay team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Rodney was the second man in Canadian history to run the 200-m in under 20 seconds, posting a personal best time of 19.96 seconds and beating teammate Andre De Grasse.

Gavin Smellie, 35, will be competing in the men’s 100-m and 4×100-m relay. The Jamaican-born sprinter competed for Canada in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Photo by Canadian Press