Justyn Knight
Knight in 2019
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1996-07-19) 19 July 1996
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportTrack, long-distance running
University teamSyracuse
Turned pro2018
Coached byJerry Schumacher
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Athletics
Representing  Canada
North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Toronto 5000 m
Pan Am U20 Cross Country
Gold medal – first place2015 BarranquillaIndividual
NACAC U20 Cross Country
Silver medal – second place2014 TobagoTeam
Updated on 19 August 2021.

Justyn Knight (born 19 July 1996) is a Canadian long-distance track runner.[2] A successful collegiate runner during his time at Syracuse University, he was the school's most-decorated distance runner in cross country and track.[3] On the professional scene, he has represented his country at the World and Olympic level, with his highest finish to date being seventh at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Running career

Youth

Knight was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario to parents of Afro-Caribbean descent. His mother, Jennifer Knight, was born and raised in Jamaica and moved to Canada at the age of 13.[4][5] His father, Anthony Knight, born in Canada to parents from Barbados, was a basketball coach. He also has an older brother, Jaryd Knight, who plays volleyball.[6][4]

Knight took up distance running when he was a high school student in Toronto, starting in Grade 10.[7][8] He attended St. Michael's College School. Knight won the 2013 Ontario provincial senior cross country title at OFSAA cross country.

Collegiate

Knight was recruited by Syracuse in 2014.[9] Knight placed 143rd overall at the 2014 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, which he would later describe as motivation for improvement, stating "I remember races I've lost in great detail. I try to understand why I lost and how I can do better."[3]

Knight placed fourth overall at the 2015 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships. At the 2015 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Knight placed sixth in the 5000 meters, earning his first All-American honours in track and field in his NCAA collegiate career.

At the 2016 NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships, Knight finished in third place in the 3000 meters final round. He was the runner-up at the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships behind Patrick Tiernan and earned All-America status in Cross Country.

On October 27, 2017, Knight won the individual ACC championship, and Syracuse won the ACC team title for the fifth straight year.[10]

Knight headed into his final NCAA outdoor campaign representing Syracuse with three NCAA titles, two individual, from the cross country and indoor track season, and one team from leading the Orange to the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship.[11][12] At the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, Knight finished in second place in the 3000 meters final round and won the 5000 meters final to earn his first NCAA Division I track title.[3]

Professional

Knight had made his World Championship debut at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London while still a student at Syracuse. He made the event final and placed ninth overall in the 5000 m.[3] He had said he was "happy but not satisfied" with this finish, and in the future would need to expect more from himself.[13]

Upon graduation to the professional ranks, Knight signed a sponsorship deal with Reebok's Boston Track Club.[3] He won a bronze medal in the 5000 m at 2018 NACAC Championships, but by 2019 was struggling with the transition to the professional scene, as it required him to spend more time away from friends and family. This led to a decline in his physical fitness, and upon arriving to compete at the 2019 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, he was twenty pounds overweight. His time in the men's mile was 4:03.34, his worst-ever result at that distance in a competitive race, which he deemed "a huge turning point" as he resolved never to have such a poor result again. He retained his competition bib with notes on his time and placement as motivation.[14]

Knight considered himself to still be out of top shape when he arrived at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha later that year and finished tenth in the 5000 m.[15]

Having missed the Olympic standard for the 2016 Summer Olympics by 1.36 seconds in 2016, Knight entered 2020 focused on securing a place at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[14][16] He won the gold medal at the Millrose Games in February in the 3000 m distance.[17] The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the Games being delayed by a full year, and made training for elite athletics more challenging, as he had to work without teammates from March to October 2020 and could not see his family.[14]

In 2021, Knight returned to competition at the 2021 Diamond League's Golden Gala in Florence, Italy. He finished with a time of 12:51.93, shaving almost twenty seconds off his prior best and running below thirteen minutes in the 5000 m distance for the first time. This was the second-fastest time ever recorded for a North American, behind only compatriot Mohammed Ahmed.[14][16] Knight was named to the Canadian Olympic team and finished seventh in the 5000 m event. His time of 13:04.38 was an improvement of more than 22 seconds on his prior World Championships appearance. Ahmed won the silver medal on the same day.[16]

Knight withdrew from the 2022 Canadian track and field championships, citing the need to manage an Achilles tendon injury in advance of the 2022 World Athletics Championships.[18]

In August of 2023 Knight joined Nike's Bowerman Track Club.[19]

Achievements

NCAA results

Representing Syracuse Orange[20][21]
University yearACC Cross CountryNCAA Cross CountryACC IndoorNCAA IndoorACC OutdoorNCAA Outdoor
Senior
(2017–18)		8000: 23:13.0 1st10,000: 29:00.2 1st3000: 8:02.57 1st
5000: 13:50.79 1st		3000: 8:05.76 2nd
5000: 14:14.47 1st		5000: 13:58.69 1st
1500: 3:49.34 3rd		5000: 13:55.03 2nd
Junior
(2016–17)		8000: 22:50.7 1st10,000: 29:27.3 2nd3000: 8:05.05 1st
5000: 13:50.27 1st		3000: 7:56.21 2nd5000: 13:52.38 1st5000: 14:36.23 3rd
Sophomore
(2015–16)		8000: 23:24.3 2nd10,000: 29:46.1 4th3000: 8:02.68 1st
5000: 14:01.70 1st
DMR: 9:36.74 2nd		3000: 8:01.85 3rd10,000: 29:46.41 3rd5000: 13:40.40 10th
Freshman
(2014–15)		8000: 23:30.7 8th10,000: 31:53.4 143rd1500: 3:47.85 1st5000: 13:50.96 6th

International results

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Canada
2014 NACAC Junior Cross Country Championships Mount Irvine, Tobago 5th 6000 m 18:42.64
World Junior Championships Eugene, Oregon 8th 5000 m 14:08.93
2015 Pan Am Junior Championships Barranquilla, Colombia 1st 7000 m 19:04
World Cross Country Championships Guiyang, China 25th 8000 m 25:22
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 9th 5000 m 13:39.15
2018 NACAC Championships Toronto, Canada 3rd 5000 m 14:01.77
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 10th 5000 m 13:26.63
2020 Millrose Games New York City, United States 1st 3000 m 7:46.36
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 7th 5000 m 13:04.38

References

  1. 1 2 "Profile of Justyn Knight". Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Profile of Justyn Knight". All-Athletics.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Cox, Jay (31 August 2018). "Runner Justyn Knight on the Value of Unrealistic Goals". Syracuse University. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Justyn Knight Interview". www.garycohenrunning.com. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  5. ↑ Canada's Justyn Knight wins 1st NCAA cross-country title in senior season
  6. ↑ "Justyn Knight builds off past struggles and pressure to stand out at Syracuse". The Daily Orange. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  7. ↑ Kissane, John (2016-11-14). "SyracuseБ─≥s Justyn Knight Ready to Challenge for the Win at Cross Country Championships | Runner's World". Runnersworld.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  8. ↑ Carlson, Chris (18 November 2016). "Justyn Knight, Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse cross country team, looks to dethrone the king". Syracuse.com. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Kelsall, Christopher (27 February 2014). "Justyn Knight Commits to Syracuse University". Athletics Illustrated. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Justyn Knight Leads Syracuse To Fifth-Straight ACC Crown - FloTrack". www.flotrack.org. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  11. ↑ Smith, Connor; Shay, Nolan (21 November 2020). "'ZERO TO HERO': An oral history of Syracuse cross country's 2015 national title". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Post-St, syracuse com | The; ard (2018-03-11). "Justyn Knight just misses on 2nd national title in 2 days". syracuse. Retrieved 2022-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Kelsall, Christopher (13 August 2017). "Justyn Knight impressive at 2017 IAAF World Championships". Athletics Illustrated. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Weisfeld, Oren (28 July 2021). "How Justyn Knight Went From Dead Last to Canada's Newest Olympic Hope". Complex Canada. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Harrison, Doug (9 June 2021). "Justyn Knight aims for competitive run against elite field in potential Olympic preview". CBC Sports. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 Harrison, Doug (August 6, 2021). "Moh Ahmed wins his 1st Olympic track medal, earning silver for Canada in men's 5,000m". CBC Sports. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Canada's Justyn Knight sprints to 3,000-metre win at Millrose Games". CBC Sports. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  18. ↑ Harrison, Doug (June 20, 2022). "Damian Warner withdraws from this week's track and field nationals with sore knee". CBC Sports.
  19. ↑ Harrison, Doug (August 14, 2023). "Canada's Justyn Knight signs with renowned Bowerman Track Club while recovering from surgery". CBC. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  20. ↑ Justyn Knight profile at TFRRS. Retrieved on 2017-04-18
  21. ↑ Justyn Knight profile at TFRRS. Retrieved on 2017-04-18
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