John Gay takg home season stri, wh experience om Olympics and UBC

Contents:

• JOHN GAY
• JOHN GAY TAKG HOME SEASON STRI, WH EXPERIENCE OM OLYMPICS AND UBC
• TSUMURA: UBC STEEPLECHASER JOHN GAY ON THE GOLD STANDARD OF A RACE THAT ALMOST DIDN’T UNT
• 10 FUN QUTNS WH UBC’S JOHN GAY
• GET TO KNOW TEAM CANADA: JOHN GAY
• JOHN GAY UBC MM APPLITN
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN RECEIV OVERWHELMG SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY
• GAY
• LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS FORT ST JOHN, BC

JOHN GAY

John Gay earned the Olympic entry standard for Tokyo 2020 when he ran a personal bt 8:20. Gay had won a pair of medals at the 2015 Canadian Junr Champnships, takg silver the 3000m steeplechase and bronze the 5000m. In 2017 Gay reprented Canada his first senr ternatnal event, jt missg the 3000m steeplechase podium at the Jx la Franphonie.

JOHN GAY TAKG HOME SEASON STRI, WH EXPERIENCE OM OLYMPICS AND UBC

In 2019, Gay raced the World Cross Country Champnships.

Gay raced llegiately for the Universy of Brish Columbia. LANGLEY, BC – John Gay remembers the track at McLeod Athletic Park — he raced on high school. Gay, 25, isn’t near done wh his reer but is already a veteran Canadian athletics, specifilly the 3, 000m and 3, 500-metre steeplechase, an event he’s claimed as his own.

TSUMURA: UBC STEEPLECHASER JOHN GAY ON THE GOLD STANDARD OF A RACE THAT ALMOST DIDN’T UNT

Returng to the park where he once raced high school, the 2022 Canadian Track and Field Champnships are special for Gay, even as they fall amid one of the bit summers of his reer. In universy, Gay ran wh the UBC Thunrbirds of the NAIA. John Gay wh UBC (UBC Athletics).

“In some ways, I thk I stumbled to a suatn that turned out really good for me, gog to UBC, ” Gay told 49 Sports ahead of his Natnal Champnship event.

Wh the weather on his si, and a program led by Chris Johnson, a faiar ach to Gay, UBC beme the statn, and the school has flicted his reer far beyond the nf of the Rasphall Dhillon Track and Field Oval. Gay didn’t get any other llegiate offers, beg an unr-reced kid om Kelowna. Gay fished 10th the 3000m steeplechase at the 2017 FISU Universy Gam Taiwan.

10 FUN QUTNS WH UBC’S JOHN GAY

His ach, Johnson, a lol cross untry and track ach, was steppg back om his role at UBC at the same time that Gay left the school. Outsi of a few pennt achg mments, Johnson helped a select group of athlet, cludg Gay, reachg the Olympic level.

John Gay his race pack at Tokyo 2020 (IOC).

“He has a small group of athlet that I was a part of, and we didn’t change a lot after I graduated, ” Gay said. Wh his improvements streamled a faiar trag atmosphere after he left universy, the petns have only gotten bigger for Gay. “An Olympic year always gments the emotns and the anxiety around racg chasg tim, and that was pecially te durg a panmic when travel is so rtricted, ” Gay said, more relaxed than he was at this time last year.

GET TO KNOW TEAM CANADA: JOHN GAY

McLeod Athletic Park is a faiar track for Gay, havg acquated himself wh the facily racg provcial champnships high school. VANCOUVER — The bt race of John Gay’s life almost didn’t unt.

Yet when you listen the UBC Thunrbirds’ third-year middle-distance sensatn talk about what meant jt to get to the startg le agast some of the bt steeplechasers the world at the USA Track and Field Distance Classic last month Los Angel, his actual time seems almost urse that last part is not pletely when you’re an unr-reced kid out of Kelowna’s Okanagan Missn Sendary, who three seasons has risen om virtual obscury to beg one of the ntent’s very bt the USTAF’s Distance Classic, Gay posted a huge personal bt time of 8:36. 08), and that Bor and the next two fishers all qualified for Augt’s IAAF World Champnships London based on their was well after the race when Gay learned that, on s send lap, the steeple barrier statned ont of the water p had been clipped by one of the petors such a way that s height fell om the standard 36-ch height to only 30 ch for one lap. “It was a field of mostly pros and post-llegians and was a race for me to make a big statement , ” said Gay, who is ached by Chris Johnson and Norm Tkham.

JOHN GAY UBC MM APPLITN

’”AN UNKNOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHTOn May 6, 12 days before his performance at the USTAF meet, Gay peted the Oxy Invatnal on the very same track at Occintal College, producg a then-personal bt time of put that performance to perspective, was at the time, the No. Wh UBC petg at the smaller NAIA level, however, was the last blue-chip field Gay would be able to fd before the end of the qualifitn perd for his own natnal bears mentng that he went on to w the steeplechase for the send straight year as part of UBC’s historic men’s team tle at the NAIA natnals on May perhaps the most signifint race Gay has n this year was the USTAF meet, and not solely bee of the time he qualifitn perds all closed and wh Gay already havg earned berths to both the NAIA natnals, Canadian natnals and the Franphone Gam, UBC had absolutely no reason or rponsibily to send Gay anywhere, other than for his own good. “They went out on a limb for me, ” explas Gay of the bill footed by the school.

”And so there was Gay, the kid who got no offers om anyone outsi of UBC g out of high school, preppg to n agast some of the world’s very bt. “You’re immersed that atmosphere and so you have to choose to rise to the ocsn, ” began Gay. ’”Gay honoured both exce him for some jters which were near-illy manifted his out-of-character cisn to lead the pack for part of the race.

“I got a ltle exced at the start, ” Gay lghs. LEARNING FROM LUCIt’s like we said off the top, Gay’s actual time the biggt race of his life was almost immaterial bee the perspective brought to his passn was lerally bought him his ticket, entered him the meet, and then poted him the directn of the of urse he was never really by himself bee the school’s extend track and field fay ntu to pete the sport at s top levels across North watchg lol Olympians at every step has done nothg but help Gay ga a eper unrstandg of every aspect of his sport.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN RECEIV OVERWHELMG SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY

“Luckily for me there is such a strong post-llegiate muny and several of them were flyg down to pete the meet, ” says Gay, who wound up roomg wh Luc Bchet, the ex-Birds star and R Olympian. ”Of urse, the time Gay spent wh another Olympian pre-R, North Vanuver’s Chris Wter, the Oregon grad who traed here before petg the steeplechase, was also ’s all led him towards a high-performance summer of ’17 which he will pete B.

’s most tradn-lan vatnal before embarkg on natnal and ternatnal petn around the Wednday, Gay will n lolly the 3, 000m at the Harry Jerome Internatnal then starts July by rumg his 3, 000m steeplechase specialy at the Canadian Champnships Ottawa, and then fish the month Ai when the Ivory Coast plays host to the Franphone Gam. 19-20) ’s John Gay actn at Simon Fraser’s Eie Mondor Memorial meet this past April. 55 PB Los Angel, Gay wonred if his bt-ever performance would be emed official.

”In the end, the tim stood, and th Gay had a set a new bar of excellence to try to top as he ntu his climb wh the Canadian natnal program. Although UBC never publicized s cisn to send Gay to the USTAF meet, fs a livery system that ‘Birds head ach Lrier Prime says has to e first. ”That, of urse, is one of those thgs that don’t get talked about a uple wh thgs like roomg wh Luc Bchet, and standg at a startg le next to a guy like Hillary Bor, and mak Gay’s ‘extra’ trip stati seem sential, not optnal.

GAY

“I never expected to be nng this fast, ” adms Gay, “but wh the nfince Chris and Norm have given me, I feel like I n say that I serve to be here. The next athlete featured our ‘Shoutout Tag’ seri is fourth year UBC stunt-athlete John Gay. Recently, Gay has been showg great form this door season, settg a new personal bt of 7:57 the 3, 000m.

John Gay: Corey Bellemore – I roomed wh him at Franphone Gam and FISU [World Universy Gam] this summer. My sister is charge of my unofficial fanpage – @FansofJohnGay – on Instagram. John Gay is g off the season of his life.

Gay’s been nng cross-untry for a . Gay moved om Kelowna to Vanuver for universy and ran as a UBC Thunrbird for five years.

LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS FORT ST JOHN, BC

Gay’s time as a universy athlete provid some of his fonst memori the sport: “My favoure cross-untry memory was 2017, when the UBC men’s program won s first natnal NAIA tle.

Gay went on to race one more year wh the team at the U Sports champnship 2018, the school’s first year the league. This past 12 months brought big posive change for Gay. What Gay’s referrg to is the transn om universy to post-llegiate athletics.