Justyn Knight appears to have returned to form after years of injury

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Canada’s Justyn Knight appears to have returned to form after nearly four years dealing with injury.

His latest performance was a 5000 metre race where he recorded a 13:03.21 finish time.

IFAM Oordegem

It was a deep IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Saturday, August 9th, where the 29-year-old finished 11th, but in one of Canada’s all-time fastest performances and his second fastest. Shades of fellow Canadian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford.

Kenyan Cornelius Kemboi won in 12:57.80. Taking second and third were Oscar Chelimo of Uganda and Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa. They finished in 12:58.13 and 12:58.20, respectively. Six athletes ran sub-13.

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Knight holds a personal best of 12:51.93 from Firenze, Italy, which he ran in June 2021. That year, he set six personal bests, then did not race after August due to an Achilles injury.

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.

Qualifying for the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships

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.

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.

One of three barriers cleared.

The standard is 13.01.00. Additionally, the top 42 qualified athletes will be selected for the 5000m event. 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 in company with the fastest 5000m runners in history.

Knight is the second-fastest Canadian in history behind fellow Southern Ontario native Moh Ahmed, an Olympic and world championships medallist. Knight owns a best of 12:51.93, while Ahmed has run 12:47.20 from 2020. In 2021, the performances were the two fastest in North American history. Over the past five years, super shoes have improved. Additionally, the use of sodium bicarbonate by athletes has become more common. The lactate-sparing substance is as popular as caffeine was during the 1980s and 1990s.

Currently, two Canadians are ahead of him, but neither has the 13:01 qualifying standard. Lumb and Fafard have more points, but head-to-head, Knight defeated Fafard in Belgium, who had a rough race and finished last in 13:52.36. His best is from May 2024, where he ran 13:05.07 in Brussels.

This Oordegem performance will boost Knight’s ranking considerably. His 13:03.21 will replace a 13:43.50 as one of his three races used for ranking purposes. By Wednesday, his rankings will be updated.

Knight will need at least one more fast 5000m or 3000m performance with a high placing by Aug 24th, or two.

His 13:03.21 is rated at 1199 World Athletics points. This brings Knight up to an average score of 1159 over his three best performances within the qualifying period. Knight will more likely need to race two very fast 5000m events within two weeks. Certainly under 13 minutes. He can likely do it, but he will need to find two races with fast fields. As most national teams have their athletes in place for the world championships, this piece is going to require much in the way of his agent sending email messages and making phone calls to race directors, and to make harried travel plans.

But it is a much better place to be in than he was over the past four years.

Results from IFAM Oordegem