Yellowknife athlete Katie Hart said she was “so happy” after finishing ninth in her 12-person Canada Games javelin final.
Hart set three personal bests this week to first qualify for the final then surpass three rivals and break into the top 10, finishing with a distance of 38.57m, which becomes the new NWT senior women’s record.
Ontario’s Madison McLean won Friday’s gold medal at Niagara 2022’s Canada Games Park in St Catharines, ahead of Nova Scotia duo Jenna Reid and Madelyn Quinn.
“The final went really well. On my first throw, I broke my PB by three centimetres and that calmed me down a bit, because I knew I’d walk away good,” said Hart, who has now represented Team NT in four sports.
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“It was a pretty good day overall and I’m very happy with it.”
In Yellowknife, which has no competition-standard athletics track and no recognized javelin training facility, Hart trains on a small, grassy softball diamond by the side of École William McDonald Middle School – attempting to avoid an ankle twist as she practices her run-up.
“We don’t really have a proper runway,” she said. “I run on the grass up and down hills. It’s nice, here, to have a proper runway for my spikes to go on.
“I’m so happy to come here and see all my training be put together in one throw. Even making the final today was crazy so to even do better makes me so happy.”
