Leah Pells posted Canada's most surprising result in track and field at the Atlanta Games in 1996 finishing fourth in the women's 1,500-metres. She set a personal best clocking for the first time in five years at those Games with a 4:03.56. She hopes to lower that mark at her third career Games in Sydney.

  "Because I was fourth in the Olympics a lot of people said 'Oh, too bad you didn't get the bronze medal (thinking she would not get another chance).' "But I just love this lifestyle so much that I want to do it as long as I possibly can before I have to get a real job."

  After the Atlanta Games, Pells figured she could win the 1997 world championships. But a tactical race relegated her to a frustrating fifth. She has won four of the last five Canadian 1,500 titles. At the 1999 worlds she struggled and finished 21st overall even though she was ranked first in the world at one point last year.

2000 Games
Sept. 27: Women's 1,500m: Leah Pells, Langley, B.C., did not finish.


2000 Games Track & Field Coverage