{"id":18505,"date":"2026-04-24T21:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/18505\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:12:13","slug":"meet-canadas-iconic-71-year-old-sprint-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/18505\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Canada’s iconic 71-year-old sprint star"},"content":{"rendered":"

After quitting sprinting at 19, Ottawa\u2019s Wendy Alexis\u00a0returned to the sport at 50. Now 71, she\u2019s one of Canada\u2019s top Masters sprinters and a multi-time age-group world record holder. This season, she has ambitious goals: reclaim the 100m W70 record, deliver at August\u2019s World Masters Championships and line up in the open 100m at Canadian nationals.<\/p>\n

An unreal resume<\/p>\n

Alexis long hovered near age-group records, but since entering the W70 division last year, she\u2019s been rewriting them. At the 2025 World Masters Indoor Championships, she broke the W70 200m world record twice in one day<\/a> (30.68, then 30.33) and anchored Canada\u2019s W65 4x200m team to a world record of 2:07.42. In June, she took the W70 100m world record<\/a>, clocking 14.63.<\/p>\n

\"wendyPhoto: ShaggysPhotos.com<\/p>\n

In January, Alexis broke Canadian masters legend Karla Del Grande<\/a>\u2018s W70 60m world record\u2013and then, a few weeks later, lowered the mark again, running 9.07 seconds. On Wednesday, Athletics Canada awarded Alexis the Earl Fee Award for her 2025 performances.<\/p>\n

Back on the track<\/p>\n

When Alexis talks about the keys to success in Masters athletics, she quotes 97-year-old Ontario masters star <\/a>Earl Fee:<\/a> \u201cSlow down slower than everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sprinter growing up, Alexis stepped away at 19 due to injuries. Later in life, her son joined the Ottawa Lions\u2013and told her to join the \u201cold people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know there was masters track, especially in Ottawa,\u201d Alexis told Canadian Running. \u201cIf you were running at an older age, it was always 5K and up.\u201d She began training again at 50, and has been competing for the past 21 years.<\/p>\n

Prioritizing recovery<\/p>\n

Injuries are part of the game, Alexis says, but with age, training takes a bigger toll on your body. \u201cLike everybody else, we get injured, and we deal with it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe difference is, I take a lot longer to get back.\u201d Training alongside athletes aged 17 to 25 has made that contrast clear: where they might need six weeks to recover, she could take six months.<\/p>\n

\"wendyPhoto: ShaggysPhotos.com<\/p>\n

Physio and rehab have become a priority, rather than something Alexis only turns to after injury. She sets aside an extra hour each day for cycling and stretching, and sees her physiotherapist every few weeks.<\/p>\n

The structured approach has also eased her mental load. \u201cSomeone else, who has so much more expertise, is calling the shots,\u201d she said. \u201cI just provide the legs.\u201d Despite being told she was \u201cdone,\u201d Alexis said the added focus on recovery has given her an edge that she didn\u2019t have before.<\/p>\n

Balancing training and life<\/p>\n

Alexis\u2019s schedule is demanding: access to track time in Ottawa is limited, and training sometimes includes a seven-hour round trip to St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. Between the track, weight room, pool and bike, she trains around 20 hours per week. Outside of sport, she cares for her grandchildren and volunteers at the local high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had younger kids, there is no way I could\u2019ve done this,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI\u2019m grateful now that I\u2019m retired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Master\u2019s environment<\/p>\n

Alexis describes masters athletics as an inclusive, encouraging community. Her main \u201crival,\u201d Del Grande, is a very close friend\u2013her \u201ctrack sister.\u201d Even at world championships, the women are incredibly supportive and celebrate everyone.<\/p>\n

Alexis lists three reasons why she keeps showing up: for good health, because she can, and to encourage those who are watching to do it, too.<\/p>\n

One of the most meaningful moments of her career came at last year\u2019s national championships in Toronto, when Del Grande brought footage of their race to the hospital to show Alexis\u2019s mom, who was ill. \u201cIt really speaks to the sisterhood and community we have in masters sport,\u201d Alexis said. \u201cWe\u2019re a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WendyWendy Alexis at the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships. Photo: ShaggysPhotos.com
\nSeasonal and lifelong goals<\/p>\n

Another W70 runner has since broken Alexis\u2019s 100m world record, running 14.37\u2013but the Canadian plans to take it back this season. She also hopes to have a strong showing at the world championships in South Korea in August.<\/p>\n

The Canadian track championships will be hosted in June by the Ottawa Lions. \u201cI want to run the 100m in the open division at 71,\u201d Alexis said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to get that opportunity again\u2013it would be exciting just to be there.\u201d It\u2019s a big goal, but doable: the women\u2019s standard is 14.00, but sometimes, other runners can be invited to run if there are empty lanes.<\/p>\n

Alexis has one fundamental goal: to run for the rest of her life. \u201cRunning makes me breathe, makes me free, and makes me a kid again, playing with my friends,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat could be better than that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After quitting sprinting at 19, Ottawa\u2019s Wendy Alexis\u00a0returned to the sport at 50. Now 71, she\u2019s one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9387,17,9388,9389,967,9390,9391,9392,9393],"class_list":{"0":"post-18505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-age-group-record","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-masters","11":"tag-canadian-runner","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-karla-del-grande","14":"tag-w70","15":"tag-wendy-alexis","16":"tag-world-masters-athletics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}