Gabby Paterson wins pentathlon gold, more medals at Legion Championships

Shin splints, 30-degree weather, and country-wide competition wasn't enough to prevent track star Gabby Paterson from winning multiple medals at the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships in Quebec this month.

Fifteen-year-old Paterson, who will be attending Paul Kane this fall, won gold in the pentathlon — five events combined into one — as she beat out Clemence Lavoie of Quebec, who won silver, and Ontario's Eva Wilson, who won bronze at the event Aug. 5-7 in Sherbrooke, Que.

For the pentathlon, Paterson competed in long jump, high jump, shot put, 80-metre hurdles, and an 800-metre endurance run.

"Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance," said Paterson. 

"I had some problems with my shins, which affected a couple of my events, but they were OK for most of it.”

Shin splints have affected Paterson all summer, she said. For six weeks leading up to the Legion Championships Paterson said was going to physiotherapy to try and ease the pain.

As part of her gold medal performance, Paterson managed to set a new personal best in the long jump, as she leaped, officially, 5.35 metres.

"I did jump 5.55 metres, but it was wind assisted so it didn’t count,” she said.

Gold wasn't Paterson's only medal from her time in Quebec. She also scored a silver medal as part of Team Alberta's 100-metre relay team, and a silver medal in the 80-metre hurdles — the result of another new personal best. 

Paterson beat her previous 80-metre hurdles record by 0.15 seconds. "It was a pretty big [personal best],” she said.

Prior to the Legion track meet, Paterson also competed at the Tri-Provincial track meet in Sherwood Park in July. She represented Alberta along with nine other athletes with the St. Albert Mustangs track club.

In Sherwood Park, Paterson won gold in all of her events: 80-metre hurdles; 200-metre hurdles; high jump; and as a member of the 100-metre relay team.

Many other athletes with the Mustangs club won medals in Sherwood Park, including Alexandra Watson, who won gold in the 800-metre race, bronze in the 1,200-metre, and who was a member of the gold-medal-winning 100-metre relay team. 

Christian Francis won gold in the javelin throw; silver in 400-metre hurdles; and bronze in high jump. Identical twins Sydney and Gabrielle Kube won gold and silver, respectively, in the hammer throw. Mia Thero Soto won silver in the long jump. Ella Diener won bronze for javelin, and Justin Schulz won silver in the hammer throw.

"It was a pretty fun meet, but for the most part it was just getting ready for Legions," Paterson said of the Tri-Provincial meet. “I was kind of just getting warmed up, making sure my events were good.

"For the most part I’m pretty confident in my events and performing, but Legions definitely got me a bit more nervous than usual just because it’s a bigger meet, and bigger stadium I’m competing in,” she said.

The Legion Championships were held at the University of Sherbrooke, and many competing athletes stayed in the university's dorms.

"There was no AC in the dorms so it was pretty warm but I brought a fan so it was OK," Paterson said. "It was pretty fun travelling with the team. I’ve never done it before so it’s definitely an experience."

After returning home from Quebec, Paterson had signed up to participate in the Alberta Indigenous Games held throughout the Edmonton area from Aug. 11-18, but decided not to compete to give her shin splints a chance to heal.

Paterson, who's connected to the Quatsino First Nation in British Columbia, said she was able to do some volunteering for the Indigenous games, as she helped measure throws during the shot put competition on Aug. 15.

Come September, Paterson said she will be doing tryouts for the 2023 North American Indigenous Games, which are set to be held in Halifax, N.S., next summer.