© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated
“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.”
— Zig Ziglar.
Canada’s Justyn Knight will continue to go after the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships qualifying standard. He is close.
The 29-year-old is the second-fastest Canadian all-time over the 5000m distance. In 2021, he was the second-fastest in North American history, before injury sidelined him for nearly four years.
Only fellow Southern Ontario native Moh Ahmed, an Olympic and world championships medallist, has run faster. Knight owns a best of 12:51.93, while Ahmed has run 12:47.20 from 2020.
The comeback
Knight started his comeback on April 19, 2025, with a 1500m race in Oregon, where he clocked a 3:44.64 finish. Three weeks later at the Oregon Twilight Meet, Knight improved on his first performance, going more than two seconds faster at 3:42.01. A month later, at the Portlack Track Festival at Griswold Stadium on June 15, Knight moved up to the 5000m event and ran a 13:25.28.
The progression continued, this time in Los Angeles in early July, running a 13:18.19. Then, in Stumptown, he went back to the 1500m going 3:40.50, this time with only one week to recover.
His latest performance was a 5000m race where he recorded a 13:03.21 finish time in Belgium.
For Knight to make the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships, he would need to run faster than the qualifying standard and finish top three at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. Also, he would need to be world-ranked top-42.
To qualify
In Ottawa, at the national championships and Canadian Trials, Knight clocked a more modest 13:43.50 on a hot day. He finished second behind Kieran Lumb, who ran 13:40.53. Taking third was Thomas Fafard in 13:44.10.
The standard is 13.01.00. Additionally, the top 42 qualified athletes will be selected for the 5000m event (three per country). World Athletics also reserves the right to directly invite athletes for reasons outside of the qualifying standards. Knight, with his big comeback after four years, may be a sentimental favourite. He is capable of more. In a final race at the World Championships, if the race goes fast, he will clip the 13-minute barrier again, putting him back in company with the fastest 5000m runners in history.
Asked if his dramatic comeback is within expectations, he told Athletics Illustrated Magazine, “I would like to say it matches my expectations. The goal is to make the world championships again and be competitive. So, running a time like that was always on my mind.”
Few opportunities are remaining where there is a sizeable meet with competitive enough athletes to help draw out his fitness and effort. To get well below 13:01.
Asked about his training, considering the length of time that Knight was off, he said that he kept the progression light in comparison to 2020 and 2021, “Right now my training is different than 2021 because we are being mindful of how much load and speed we introduce (because I’ve been coming back from the injury). My highest mileage week this year was 70 miles (115 km).”
The question is where to race.
On Tuesday, August 12, he is listed in the 3000m in the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest, Hungary. He comes into the event with a 7:44.21 personal best time. Expect him to run well under 7:40.00. Following that, he could, in theory, race on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the Lausanne Diamond League meet, which offers a 5000m race.
Running a sub-7:35 and a sub-13, respectively, will put him in a position for consideration for the world championships.
Cover photo from an Instagram post, taken by: 📸: @archivekaze @kenny.zhong
AloJapan.com