Esther Akinsulie anchored the podium-topping 4x400m women’s relay team at the 25th Universiade games in Belgrade,Serbia ( Photo Provided )
Esther Akinsulie helped bring home Canada’s first Universiade gold medal in track and field in 26 years. She ran the anchor leg of the women’s 4x400m relay at the world inter-university games held July 1-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. This win was kinsulie’s second of the games, having previously taken to the podium with a silver-medal fi nish in the women’s 400m track event. Akinsulie said the gold medal is a “huge accomplishment” for the relay team, which won the race with a time of 3:33.09, and helped turn the games into a celebratory event for the Canadian delegation. She said all the players in the individual and team sports united to celebrate successes and cheer each other on through the games, making the trip an unforgettable experience.
“Team Canada as a whole was really good,” Akinsulie said. “I noticed that different members from different teams were coming out to our track meets, and a few of us also went out to events like the men’s basketball game and tried to catch some swimming and stuff like that. Everyone was really good with cheering on the Canadians and coming out to different events.” To stay in competitive form, Akinsulie trained three hours a day for fi ve to six days a week, on top of schoolwork. She said the regime was challenging but worthwhile and will hopefully propel her to a position on the Canadian Olympic team.
Akinsulie did not begin training competitively for track and fi eld until about five years ago. While in high school she said her main focus was basketball. “It wasn’t until I started university and when I was trying to still do track and trying out for the Carleton Ravens that I realized I couldn’t play basketball for the university and do track outside,” she said. “I had to make a decision then and there on what I wanted to do, and I figured that I’d probably have a longer career in track and fi eld than I would in basketball.” Carleton not having a track team of its own proved to be a bit of a disappointment for Akinsulie — she trains with the Ottawa Lions — and she said she thinks it is something university athletics should defi nitely look into for the future. In order to compete at the Universiade, Akinsulie said she had to meet or beat a qualifying 400m time of 0:53.3. Before she bolted to a personal best time of 0:51.7 in her silver-medal run, her fastest time this year was a qualifying 0:52.39.
Akinsulie, who has now successfully completed all the credits needed for her psychology degree and just needs to apply to graduate, said her career in track is far from over. She said she is pursuing a professional career and hopes to continue her success at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships starting Aug. 15 in Berlin, Germany