Canadian Philibert-Thiboutot in career best shape after managing negative emotions

Canadian middle-distance runner Charles Philibert-Thiboutot spoke to French counterpart Jimmy Gressier in early June after another “unfortunate” performance on the track in less than ideal conditions.

Gressier had two men’s 1,500 meters races lined up later in the month in France and suggested his friend join him, believing they could help each other set fast times.

“I felt like this could be [the time for a personal best] and I should go,” Philibert-Thiboutot said this week from his home in Vancouver. “With the bad luck I’d had, I had to run at full throttle before I could train again. That was the reason for the decision.”

On June 10 at Montesson, Philibert-Thiboutot jostled for position at the start on a warm and calm day and found himself about 10m behind the pack in the 100m. But he worked his way into the front pack, finishing second in three minutes and 33.54 seconds for a Quebec record and his first PR since 2015. Only Kevin Sullivan, the three-time Olympian and silver medalist of the 1994 Commonwealth Games, has run faster among the Canadian men in 3:31.71.

Eight days after Montesson, Philibert-Thiboutot said “everything fell perfectly into place” at the Meeting Stanislas Nancy, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event, where the Quebec City athlete clocked 3:32.94 in a stacked field that set the pace once again. souped-up setters fell off at 1,100 yards.

“It weighed on me that I couldn’t run a personal best for so long,” Philibert-Thiboutot said in a Tuesday interview with CBC Sports before flying to Silesia, Poland for the 14th Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League meeting on Sunday. “After I broke through the glass ceiling with the first race in France, it was pure elation. There’s a whole new mindset when I get to the [start] line.

“I was the one who was in control and decided where I wanted to place myself [in the race]. It brought a lot of confidence and with it a better ability to navigate [front] business suit. I hope to bring that same energy with me [on Sunday].”

On the way to world championships

The live stream from the Silesian Stadium begins at 10 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports App, and CBC Gem.

Philibert-Thiboutot’s efforts in France also met the 3:34.20 automatic start standard for the August 19-27 World Championships in Athletics in Budapest, Hungary. And Sunday’s race at 11:38 a.m. ET will be his first attempt at the 3:33.50 mark for next summer’s Paris Olympics, after the qualifying period opened on July 1.

To continue… I can’t bear the negative emotions of the injuries forever. I got rid of them in 2022 and am a totally new athlete.– Canadian middle-distance runner Charles Philibert-Thaboutot

“Evidently, [I’ll] Keep in mind the Olympic standard. It’s been a while since I’ve done that [been part] of a high quality race and I feel like I can compete and fight to be up front this time,” said Philibert-Thiboutot, the only Canadian competing in Silesia. “It’s probably the first time I’ve felt this way about a Diamond Liga match. The other times I was invited, I went to the back of the pack and held on for life.”

From 2015 to 2018, the 32-year-old finished no higher than eighth on four occasions, but placed third in Stockholm in 2018 and fourth at the 2016 Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway.

At various times over the years, Philibert-Thiboutot’s PR efforts have been disrupted by the following injuries: stress fracture in his right foot, a left Achilles tendon, lower back problems, torn left calf and a sciatic nerve problem.

“In the years between 2017 and 2020, when the injuries were big, you wonder if you will ever be able to perform again. [on the track]”To move forward, and this is something I’ve been working on with a sports psychologist in 2021 and 2022, I can’t carry the negative emotions of the injuries forever. I got rid of them in 2022 and I’m a totally new athlete.”

Philibert-Thiboutot opened his 2023 outdoor season in the 1,500 in “extremely bad weather” in New York, going 3:39.91 on May 19 at Track Night NYC. Two weeks later, he said he was stout, stumbled a lot and “couldn’t find a rhythm” while racing at the Portland Track Festival.

“As prepared as I was [to PB several times over the years] I didn’t get the chance [have the result] play to my advantage,” he noted. “I just stayed patient and kept believing that I was capable of doing these things and eventually [went my way].”

‘Charles is still passionate about his sport’

Félix-Antoine Lapointe, who began coaching Philibert-Thiboutot 12 years ago at Laval University in Quebec City, described him as resilient and a fearless competitor.

“A lot of athletes would have retired after eight years with no personal best,” he told CBC Sports. “Charles is still passionate about his sport and I have always believed him [could] improve his personal best as he [stayed] healthy for one [full] year or more.”

The 2016 Olympian believes his career turned around last summer in the preliminary round at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon. He finished second in his series in a season best of 3:35.02 ahead of reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and eventual world gold medalist Jake Wightman of Great Britain. However, Philibert-Thiboutot missed qualifying for the final, finishing 9-100ths of a second behind Spain’s Ignacio Fontes in the semi-finals.

“As disappointing as it was at the moment, it’s a testimony to how close I am to my goals and how much progress I’ve made,” he said.

“My mentality is to give everything this year [at worlds], in Paris and try to get a medal. This will definitely be my last Olympic cycle and 2025 could well be an extra year [to compete] for fun.”

Lapointe added: “I am convinced that he can make it to the final and finish in the top eight at world championships and the Olympics. A medal might be a big chance, but not impossible.”

Should Philibert-Thiboutot not race at the London Athletics Meet on July 23 – he is on the waiting list – he will return to BC for his final pre-worlds race at the July 27-30 nationals at Langley.

3 other events in Poland to watch

• Sha’Carri Richardson will attempt to recapture the best time of the season in the women’s 100 meters at 11:53 a.m. ET after earning her first world finish last week at the USATF Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.

  She clocked a 10.71 PR in the preliminaries before winning the women’s final in 10.82. Five-time Olympic medalist Shericka Jackson, who will be in the field on Sunday, ran a world-leading 10.65 — fifth best all-time — at the Jamaican Championships the next day.

LOOK | Athletics North discusses nationals from Richardson, Charleston and USATF:

• The Men’s 100 at 10:16 a.m. ET is led by Fred Kerley, who next month will become the first man since eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt to win back-to-back world titles in the event.

  Fourth in the 200 at US Championships (19.86 SB), he is scheduled to face 2019 100 World Champion Christian Coleman in Silesia, along with reigning 100 World silver medalist Marvin Bracy-Williams and Cravont Charleston, fresh off his stunning 9.95 US title win. He beat Coleman by 1-100th of a second.

Diamond League Calendar

• Monaco — July 21
• London — July 23
• Shanghai — July 29
• Shenzhen, China – August 3
• Zurich — August 31
• Brussels — September 8