Lucia Stafford
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | London, Ontario, Canada | August 18, 1998||||||||||||||
Education | University of Toronto (BEng.) | ||||||||||||||
Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||
Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Country | Canada | ||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
Event | Middle-distance running | ||||||||||||||
Coached by | Terry Radchenko | ||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
Personal bests | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lucia Stafford (born August 18, 1998) is a Canadian athlete specializing in middle-distance running.[1] She is the 2017 Pan American U20 champion in the women's 1500 metres, and competed for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Stafford is the North American indoor record holder for the 1000 metres.[2]
Early life
Stafford was born in
Career
In 2017, Stafford won gold at the
The onset of the
In advance of the 2022 season, Stafford moved to train at the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, joining her sister Gabriela.[8] However, they would both depart the club early in the following year, citing controversy around another club member, Shelby Houlihan.[9] Stafford made her World Indoor debut at the 2022 edition in Belgrade, finishing eighth in the 1500 m.[10] She went on to make her World Athletics Championships debut as well, but came thirty-fourth in the heats of the 4:09.67 and did not advance to the semi-finals. She was also named to Canada's team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but her preparations were hindered by contracting COVID-19. Despite this, she qualified to the 1500 m final and finished eleventh, albeit well off her personal best. Stafford reflected that "all you can ask for yourself is to do your best. I know it's very far from where I want to be, but I always count on myself to do my best."[11]
Following her departure from the Bowerman Club, Stafford resumed training in Toronto with longtime coach Terry Radchenko.[12] On January 28, 2023, Stafford broke the North American indoor record in the 1000 metres with a time of 2:33.75 at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston.[2] She moved to ninth on the world indoor all-time list.[13] After narrowly missing the World Athletics Championship qualifying standard for the 1500 m at the 2023 Millrose Games, she cleared it with a personal best 4:02.03 at the USATF LA Grand Prix on May 27.[14] Stafford finished 28th in the heats of the 1500 m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, running a 4:05.21.[15] She later described the heat as "probably the most physical race I've been in. When you're competing with the best in the world, there's no room for imperfection."[16]
Personal life
The daughter of James Stafford and Maria Luisa Gardner, Stafford has, in addition to her sister Gabriela, a younger brother Nicholas and two younger step-sisters, Gabrielle and Talia. She has a step-mother, Leanne Shafir.[17] Her mother passed away due to leukemia when Lucia was 10.[3] Both Gabriela and Lucia are trilingual, speaking English, French and Spanish.[18]
In the fall of 2022, Stafford enrolled in the singer/songwriter program at
Competition record
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time |
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2016 | World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 13th (h) | 1500 m | 4:22.38 |
2017 | Pan American U20 Championships | Trujillo, Peru | 1st | 1500 m | 4:21.70 |
2019 | Summer Universiade | Naples, Italy | 5th | 1500 m | 4:12.70 |
5th | 4 x 400 m | 3:34.62 | |||
2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 13th (sf) | 1500 m | 4:02.12 |
2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia
|
8th | 1500 m | 4:06.41 |
World Championships | Eugene, United States | 34th (h) | 1500 m | 4:09.67 | |
Commonwealth Games | Birmingham, United Kingdom
|
11th | 1500 m | 4:13.83 | |
2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary
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28th (h) | 1500 m | 4:05.21 |
2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom
|
11th | 1500 m | 4:08.90 |
References
- ^ a b c "Lucia Stafford". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Dickinson, Marley (January 28, 2023). "Lucia Stafford obliterates Canadian 1,000m record in season opener". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ The National Post. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ The Toronto Star. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ Nichols, Paula (July 3, 2021). "Team Canada to have 57 competitors in athletics at Tokyo 2020". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "57 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic track & field team". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ Harrison, Doug (August 4, 2021). "Gabriela DeBues-Stafford to run for Olympic gold medal in 1,500 metres". CBC Sports. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ Francis, Anne (November 19, 2021). "Lucia Stafford and Andrea Seccafien join Bowerman Track Club". Canadian Running. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ Ewing, Lori (April 12, 2022). "Canadian runner DeBues-Stafford leaves training centre over Houlihan burrito case". CBC Sports. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
- ^ Harrison, Doug (March 19, 2022). "Damian Warner wins elusive heptathlon gold in Canadian record effort at indoor worlds". CBC Sports.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games – Day 7: Canada's final day at the track sandwiched between two historic moments". Athletics Canada. August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ The Globe & Mail. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ "Lucia Stafford Breaks Canadian and North American 1,000m Record at BU". DyeStat. January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
- ^ Dickinson, Marley (May 29, 2023). "Lucia Stafford hits world championship standard at L.A. Grand Prix". Canadian Running. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ "Worlds Day 1: Breaking records in Budapest". Athletics Canada. August 19, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ Stafford, Lucia (August 19, 2022). "That's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes 🍪" (Instagram). Archived from the original on September 3, 2023.
- ^ "For Gabriela Stafford, her Rio race is dedicated to someone else". The Globe and Mail. August 11, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Madeleine (June 23, 2021). "The best sister in the world". Canadian Running. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
External links
- Lucia Stafford at World Athletics
- Lucia Stafford at Olympedia