Arctics’ sprinter Tori McIntyre and CTFL 200m champion completed the coveted sprint double at the 2024 finals in Ottawa.

The Sprint Double is a rare achievement and a show of dominance at any highly competitive track and field meet. To complete a sprint double, an athlete must win both the 100m and the 200m events at the same meet.

McIntyre did exactly that at the July 6 final, despite the many difficulties that stand in the way of the accomplishment.

To achieve the sprint double, McIntyre had to beat the entirety of two elite fields in two different races less than 90 minutes apart. 

“They’re very different races, but I still see them both as maximum efforts,” McIntyre said. “In both cases you have to show up and give it everything.”

The first race of McIntyre’s evening was the 200m, in which she is a core athlete. This is why McIntyre is technically not the CTFL 100m champion as well, despite finishing first in that race. Per CTFL rules, an athlete can only accumulate points for their primary event, for McIntyre that’s the 200m. This is done to create a fair scenario for the team competition, so athletes aren’t tipping the scale by competing and achieving points in multiple events.

It was the early evening as athletes lined up for the 200m. Evidently, the race is longer, meaning fatigue becomes a bigger factor. This is where athletes utilize race management, giving a consistent effort as close to maximum output as possible without burning out. But there’s still more.

“With the corner in the 200, that adds a little curveball,” McIntyre said.

Without a straight shot, athletes must manage running along the curve as well as capitalize along the final straightaway.

Moments after the starting gun, athletes were already bounding around the curve of the first half of the race. Huskies’ sprinters Nkeka Pinheiro and Tameran Defreitas had solid starts and were barreling towards a quick finish.

“Personally, I was a bit slow out of the blocks,” McIntyre said. “But then I was able to pick it up off the corner.”

As the field flew into the straightaway, McIntyre’s powerful and aggressive stride propelled her into the lead as she carried her momentum all the way to the finish.

McIntyre won with a time of 24.06, almost a half second ahead of Pinheiro who finished in 24.50. Rounding out the podium was Defreitas with a time of 25.02.

Until that point, Ottawa’s weather had been perfect for a race day, with almost no wind and a beautiful sunny sky. But as forecasted, storm clouds began to roll in during McIntyre’s event, with rain pouring down onto the track soon afterwards.

Even with that slight wrench in her plan, McIntyre began to intricately prepare herself for her next event.

“If I’m being honest, I write out my whole plan in the notes app on my phone,” McIntyre said. “So, I just make sure I know when I’m going to refuel, hydrate, take a little break and get moving again.”

As 8pm rolled around, the rain was in full force, but without a trace of thunder. McIntyre and her new field of 100m opponents lined up in their blocks, each focused on achieving victory on the wet track.

The field was stacked with contenders, namely Bears 100m specialist Roxane Tedga, who ran 11.65 in the preliminaries and was leading in the standings among the athletes present at the finals, with 40 points. Two Huskies’ sprinters were once again in contention, with Jorden Savoury and Kayla Vieux both having run under 12 seconds consistently this season. 

With a wet track and a slight headwind, the race was certainly not going to go as expected. 

As the gun went off, and the sprinters tore down the track, the entire field was incredibly close. Even McIntyre was not entirely sure of her second victory of the night until live results were posted.

Savoury finished moments after McIntyre’s time of 11.89 with a mark of 11.93. Because McIntyre is not a core 100m athlete, this gave Savoury the official victory at the finals which was just enough to make her the CTFL women’s 100m champ. 

The leader heading into the finals, Tedga, missed Vieux’s time of 11.96 – which she earned earlier in the day during the open meet – by only 0.02 seconds. This meant she fell into fourth place in the finals, allowing Savoury to pass her in points, winning by a score of 57 to 56.

McIntyre may not have the official win on top of her 200m CTFL champion title, but she undeniably accomplished an incredible sprint double against some of the best competition in the country.

“It’s exciting to come out here and just execute my races the way I had planned,” McIntyre said.