Cam Levins has qualified for his second Olympic Games.
On a wet Sunday in Styria, Austria, the 32-year-old from Black Creek ran a marathon in two hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds. The Tokyo Olympic standard for the marathon is 2:11:30.
His parents, Gus and Barb, were elated as they watched their son’s race online.
“This is real big news for us,” Gus said. “For him to get this done — this is his last shot at it, this Olympics.”
Levins competed in two track events at the 2012 London Olympics, placing 11th in the 10,000 metres and 14th in the 5,000m. In 2014, he won a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but an injury kept him out of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, he broke the Canadian record in his first-ever marathon.
READ: Black Creek runner hopes another Olympics in future
Gus said Sunday’s event was capped at 200 runners, with about 50 in the men’s field. Levins ran most of the race well ahead of the next fastest runner.
“Bit of a relief, but I knew he could do it,” Gus said. “He felt confident going in, but it’s always nice to see the result. He’s pretty happy after this one. He struggled a little bit (in previous races) with fuelling, trying to get nutrition and everything down night.”
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin late-July. The men’s marathon will be run Aug. 9.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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