With the first Canadian Track and Field League meet just around the corner, May 18 in Montreal, an elite group of 1500 metre athletes gear up what is stacking up to be a hard-fought season. It will be key for returning athletes to take note of fresh faces in the event who are looking to challenge the old guard.  

Here’s a look at last year’s top performers compared with this season’s favourites and dark horses with something to prove in the CTFL’s 2024 men and women’s 1500 metre fields. 

Women’s 1500m

Despite not seeing many changes in the event’s list of athletes from last year, the highly competitive field is going to ensure a shakeup in the women’s 1500 metre.  

Returning to the event is Last year’s top performer was Arctics runner Sydney Pattison, who won the women’s 1500 championship final back in 2023 to secure the gold within an empty field. Along with a solid 4:22 preliminary mark, Pattison propelled herself to the top of the CTFL leaderboard with this victory.  

Pattison is a talented runner and is certainly capable of winning in a full race, but this year she will undoubtedly have some tough competition.  

Had top Spitfires 1500 metre runner and this season’s favourite in the women’s 1500 metre, Cameron Ormond, competed in the 2023 CTFL final, the season could have turned out quite differently. Having posted both the fastest free mark (4:12.82) and preliminary mark (4:12.61) in the women’s 1500 metre field during the season, she only fell behind Pattison by not competing in the championship.  

If Ormond shows up for the full season this time around, she’s in a position to dominate the field.  

Arctics athlete Chloe Coutts is this season’s Dark Horse in the women’s 1500 metre event. Despite competing last year in the 800m for the Arctics, Coutts has a highly competitive personal best of 4:19.60 in the 1500 metre.  

Her twin, Sophie Coutts of the Bears, is easily another dark horse of the event after posting a solid personal record of 4:21.65 in Boston this February. 

Men’s 1500m 

The men’s 1500 is a stacked event with several incredibly talented athletes coming off big seasons. 

Alec Purnell, Huskies had a stellar 2023 CTFL campaign, with a win in the championship final following the league’s closest finish in the preliminary rounds, where he edged out Simon Berube’s 3:42.75 by one-hundredth of a second for a winning time of 3:42.74.  

Purnell is undoubtedly in contention for first place again this summer, but with new competition waiting in the woodwork ready to turn up the heat in the Men’s 1500, there are new event favourites. 

That new competition includes this season’s men’s 1500 favourite, Spitfires runner Max Davies. Davies is coming off a career season. First, Davies broke the four-minute mile at Penn State. Then, back in Canada, Davies shattered USports records in both the 1000 metre and the 1500 metre events at the championship, posting times of 2:21.00 and 3:41.95 respectively. But Davies wasn’t done, recently setting a new personal record of 3:39.80 on May 12, cementing him as this season’s favourite in the CTFL. 

 
In breaking the 3:40 barrier, Davies entered the wheelhouse of 2024 Arctics draftee and this season’s Dark Horse candidate, Matthew Beaudet. Beaudet has a personal best of 3:39.67, just a touch better than Davies’, which he set back in 2022. He has yet to break 3:45 this year, but that may change as the season rolls on as Beaudet challenges for the CTFL’s men’s 1500 metre crown.