Canadian Masters Athlete of the Month – February

The Canadian Masters Athlete of the month is Christa Bortignon for February.

Christa broke four world records in the W85 category at the BC Masters Indoor Championships in Kamloops on February 26/27.  Her record times in the 60m and 200m sprints were 11.18s and 42.09s, respectively.  Christa used that speed to break the triple jump world record with a jump of 6.35m, followed by a world record long jump of 2.70m the next day.

Christa broke two additional Canadian Masters Athletics Indoor records at the same meet with a shot put of 6.49m and as part of the W70 4x200m relay team.  Her team-mates were Deborah Lee, Deanna Clark, and Avril Douglas and their record time was 2:49.26.

The W70 team was not the only outstanding relay team in Kamloops.  The M75 4x800m team of Mark Stewart, Tom Ukonmaanaho, Barry Dargie, and Pat Harton broke the world record with a time of 13:07.97.  The next day, Piara Bhullar took Pat Harton’s place on the same team for the 4x400m relay and they broke another world record with a time of 5:24.52.  These five men earned honourable mention in Athlete of the Month voting.

Sasha Gollish also earned an honourable mention for her world record in the W40 indoor mile.  On February 27 at the Ontario Masters Championships in Toronto, she set the new record with an incredible time of 4:38.73.