Rookie Olympic appearance in London.
Melissa Bishop competes in the opening round of the 800 metres at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Claus Andersen/Athletics Canada
Melissa Bishop of Eganville is one of seven honourable mentions for Canadian Running magazine’s fifth annual Golden Shoe Awards.
Bishop, who trains out of Windsor with coach Dennis Fairall, was one of two Canadian women to qualify for the women’s 800 metres at the 2012 Olympics.
Last season, Bishop became the third Canadian women to break the coveted two-minute barrier for the two-lap race earlier in the season, but did not advance out of the Olympics’ opening round. Jessica Smith, who became the fourth Canuck to break two minutes, reached the second round at the Olympics. She was also a Golden Shoe Award honorable mention.
Golden Shoe Award honorable mentions also went to Olympic 1,500-metre, semi-finalists Nate Brannen, Hilary Stellingwerff and Nicole Sifuentes; Olympic 800-metre semi-finalist Geoff Harris; and Cam Levins, who was 11th and 14th in the Olympic Games’ 10,000- and 5,000-metres respectively.
Canadian Running pays tribute to them in the January-February 2013 issue.
All-star honours went to Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., who trains in Vancouver, and Lanni Marchant of London, Ont.
Wykes finished 20th in the London Olympics in 2:15:26. Marchant ran 2:31.50 in the Rotterdam Marathon to improve her personal best by about 12 minutes, to finish as Canada’s fastest female marathoner in 2012.