Last year at the Paris Olympics, just 7 of the 17 distance runners on Canada’s Olympic team were training at home. Faced with limited opportunities in their home country, many of Canada’s best and brightest track stars have made the decision to move elsewhere in search of better competition, warmer weather, and the chance to make a viable career out of running fast. 

Yet while athletes from the rest of the country have flocked elsewhere in their quest for success, one small program has bucked the trend. Under the guidance of Athletics Québec’s young provincial team head coach, Félix-Antoine Lapointe, a small but mighty group in Québec City has ushered in a renaissance for Canadian-based distance running excellence. 

While Quebec placed just one athlete on the Olympic team in Tokyo in 2021, that number sky-rocketed to 7 last summer in Paris. Leading the charge were Coach Félix and the trio of Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (1500m), Jean-Simon Desgagnés (3000m SC) & Thomas Fafard (5000m), Quebec provincial record holders who not only made it to Paris, but advanced out of the qualifying rounds in their respective events.

Today on The Shakeout Podcast we sit down with Coach Félix and the athlete whose career started it all, Charles Philibert Thiboutot, to discuss the rapid rise of the Quebec program, the unique relationship between the two, and how the model they helped build together has now extended to the next generation of Canadian-based distance running stars.

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Charles Philibert-Thiboutot @CharlesPT

Félix-Antoine Lapointe @CoachLapointe