Marissa Papaconstantinou breaks her Canadian record to open at 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships presented by Bell

photos: @mundosportimages

OTTAWA – On a hot muggy morning in Ottawa, Marissa Papaconstantinou launched the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships presented by Bell with a bang breaking her Canadian record in the women’s T64 100-metre.

The 25-year-old blade runner from Toronto clocked 12.84 seconds in her qualifying heat eclipsing her previous mark of 12.90 set in June 2023. The final is Friday evening at the at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility.

‘’I was feeling sharp,’’ said Papaconstantinou, already a three-time Paralympian. She was a bronze medallist in the 100 metres at Tokyo 2020. ‘’Honestly I wanted to take advantage of a pretty strong field. I got that push, the conditions were perfect and it all came together.

‘’It was a long time coming.’’

Wednesday’s performance was the perfect way for Papaconstantinou to ignite the march not only to this fall’s world championships in India but also the next Paralympic Games.

‘’L.A. 2028 is on my radar,’’ she said. ‘’I’m happy to be out competing at my best and just getting ready for the worlds.’’

That same afternoon, Papaconstantinou was one of five athletes, along with Paralympian Julia Hanes of LaSalle, Ont., and three Olympians to meet the media at the introductory press conference.

A graduate in sports media at Toronto Metropolitan University she skillfully answered questions submitted by young athletes from the Ottawa Lions Club.

It wasn’t hard to see and hear why she served as one of the captains of Canada’s Para athletics team in Paris—an experience she says helped her embrace a leadership role.

‘’It’s crazy to think about that,’’ she said. ‘’I’ve come into this leadership role with the experience I’ve gained. It is such a privilege to help bring through the next generation of Para athletes.’’

Over the past decade, Papaconstantinou has both experienced and witnessed major changes in Para sport—from increased support and advancing technology to the rising level of performance across the board.

‘’You just have so many people backing every sport and every individual to show the world that we are true athletes,’’ she said. ‘’At this level, it’s high performance and about competing on the biggest stage in the world.

“The biggest change is that Para sport is finally being treated like the high-performance sport it truly is.”

With her sights set on the world championships in India and a long-term vision for L.A. 2028, Papaconstantinou is proving that the future of Canadian Para athletics is in powerful hands.

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Para events are scheduled for each session of the competition except Thursday morning. Here is the full schedule.

The Canadian Track & Field Championships will be broadcasted live from Ottawa Wednesday, July 30th through Sunday, August 3rd on AthleticsCanada.tv.