Racing in front of a cheering hometown crowd, Genevieve Lalonde put in a record-setting performance Thursday at the IAAF world junior track and field championships.
The Moncton, N.B., native finished sixth in the women's 3,000-metre steeplechase in a time of nine minutes 57.74 seconds. That topped her own national junior mark of 10:03.88 set in the heats Tuesday and set a new regional junior record for the Americas.
"I'm here in my hometown, I've dreamt about this day and it's here. It's an incredible feeling," Lalonde said.
Purity Cherotich Kirui of Kenya took the gold with a time of 9:36.34, but Lalonde received the loudest standing ovation of the evening.
"You don't get a chance to live this a lot and it's pretty crazy," said Lalonde, who races in the 1,500 metres Friday. "I'm so glad I could do this with my friends and family all around. I'm just really happy that they could encourage me all the way through."
Meanwhile, Taylor Stewart of London, Ont., received his bronze medal after finishing third in Wednesday's long jump. Stewart was all smiles as he opened the wooden box containing the large medal, Canada's only hardware through four days.
"It still hasn't really sunk in yet," said Stewart, who rewarded himself with a rare trip to McDonald's Wednesday night. "It's just a great honour."
Jamaican sprinter Dexter Lee, who became the first-ever repeat men's 100-metre champion Wednesday, was one of three competitors disqualified in Heat 4 of the men's 200 metres on Thursday. Lee chalked the false start up to "just a bad day."
"I feel wonderful that I (won 100-metre gold)," Lee said. "Right now I'm only thinking about running fast."
In other action on the track Thursday, Alistair Moona of Mississauga, Ont., finished seventh in the men's 400 metres in 47.38 seconds. Kirani James of Grenada took the gold with a time of 45.89.
Isabelle Pedersen of Norway won the women's 100-metre hurdles, setting a new Norwegian record with a time of 13.30 and unfurling a king-size Norwegian flag in celebration.
Shaunae Miller of Bahamas won the women's 400 metres with a time of 52.52, just ahead of Nigeria's Margaret Etim (53.05). Both racers had to receive medical attention immediately after the race.
In other evening finals on Day 4, Elena Mirela Lavric of Romania took the women's 800 metres in a time of 2:01.85, while Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku of Kenya won the men's 1,500 metres at 3:37.30.
Dailenys Alcantara of Cuba captured the women's triple jump with a mark of 14.09 metres. Russian Anton Ivakin took the men's pole vault with a leap of 5.50 metres, the best junior jump this year. Yaime Perez of Cuba won the women's discus with a throw of 56.01 metres.
Toronto's Crystal Emmanuel fell short of qualifying for Friday's women's 200-metre final, despite a personal best of 23.96 in her semifinal. Cassandra Pascal of Mississauga, Ont., ran 24.05 in the semifinals.
Women's heptathlon competition also began Thursday. Rachel McIntosh of Bridgewater, N.S., sat 18th after four events with 2,976 points, 559 back of leader Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands.
Kenya leads the medal table with nine, including four gold, ahead of Russia's four medals (two gold), and Cuba's two (both gold).
More than 1,400 athletes and team officials from 170 countries are in the city for the week-long event, being held in the brand-new 10,000-seat Moncton 2010 Stadium. The 19-and-under competition is the largest sporting event ever held in Atlantic Canada.
Canada, which was shut out of the medals two years ago in Poland, has competed in all 13 championships, winning 12 medals, including a country-best three in 1992 in Seoul.
21:21ET 22-07-10
Story ID: S2898 (Via Land-Line Feed)