91大黄鸭鈥檚 Jerome Blake has some new gold around his neck.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old participated in his first World Athletic Championships in Eugene, Oregon over the last couple weeks and brought home the gold medal with his 4x100 relay race teammates.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a special feeling,鈥� said Blake. 鈥淐anada hasn鈥檛 won a gold medal at the world championships or any major championship for a very long time, so for us to do that on such a big stage is a very special day for track and field in Canada.鈥�

Being his first time at the World Athletic Championships, he found some difficulties, having to battle adversity at the same time as it was his first time running in multiple races in a short period of time.

鈥淚t was a cool experience,鈥� said Blake. 鈥淚t was my first world championships actually competing in individual events so it was a bit of a challenge getting used to running so many different races in a short time span.

鈥淚 was disappointed in my individual events so I had to keep refocusing and keep bringing lots of positive energy in, and understand that it鈥檚 my first time around.鈥�

After the championships, Blake and his relay teammates decided to pull out of the Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham, England.

鈥淲e were all going to go, but after running so many races, we made the decision to not go so we can rest and recover鈥� so we can finish the second half of the season,鈥� said Blake. 鈥淎ny time you鈥檙e pulling out of a major championship where you get the chance to represent your country, of course you really want to go out there and do your best and perform at your best, but whenever you have challenging things happening you got to focus on yourself first and try to make sure you鈥檙e going to be healthy.鈥�

Over these next three weeks, Blake is back in Florida training every morning for the second half of the sprinting season which starts towards the end of August.

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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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