Sage Watson

Sage Heather Walker (née Watson born 20 June 1994) is a Canadian athlete specializing in the 400 metres hurdles.^[2] Competing internationally for Canada, she is the reigning Pan American champion in the 400 m hurdles, having also won Pan American medals in 2015 and 2019 as part of Canada's relay team.

Sage Walker

Sage Watson in 2015
Personal information
Birth name	Sage Heather Watson
Full name	Sage Heather Walker
Born	(1994-06-20) 20 June 1994 (age 30) Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada[1]
Education	Florida State University University of Arizona '17
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Spouse	Brad Walker
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	400 metres hurdles 400 metres
College team	Arizona Wildcats
Coached by	Fred Harvey
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	400 metres hurdles:54.32 400 meters:51.62
Medal record Representing  Canada Pan American Games 2019 Lima 400 m hurdles 2019 Lima 4×400 m relay 2015 Toronto 4×400 m relay Pan American Junior Championships 2013 Medellín 400 m hurdles 2013 Medellín 4×400 m relay 2013 Medellín 400 m World Youth Championships 2011 Lille SMR

Career

Watson first represented her country at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where she reached the semifinals. In July 2016 she was officially named to Canada's Olympic team, reaching the semifinals in the 400m hurdles and finishing fourth as part of Canada's women's 4x400 metres relay team.^[3]

At the 2017 World Championships, Watson finished sixth. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Watson qualified to the final of the 400m hurdles with a national record time of 54.32, breaking the previous record of Rosey Edeh that had stood since 1996.^[4]

Watson competed at her second Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. She qualified to the semi-finals of the 400 m hurdles, but placed fifth there and did not advance to the final. The Canadian team in the 4x400 m relay finished in fourth place for the second consecutive Olympics, which she remarked afterward "really hurts."^[5]

Due to a back injury incurred six weeks before the Tokyo Games, Watson would later announce that she was stepping away from competition to focus on recovery.^[6]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Canada
2011	World Youth Championships	Lille, France	8th	400 m hurdles	61.04
			3rd	Sprint medley relay	2:05.72
2012	World Junior Championships	Barcelona, Spain	10th (sf)	400 m hurdles	58.04
			6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:37.84
2013	Pan American Junior Championships	Medellín, Colombia	3rd	400 m	52.68
			1st	400 m hurdles	56.81
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:41.53
2015	Pan American Games	Toronto, Canada	10th (h)	400 m hurdles	58.36
			3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:27.74
	World Championships	Beijing, China	19th (sf)	400 m hurdles	56.38
			8th	4 × 400 m relay	3:27.69
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	11th (sf)	400 m hurdles	55.44
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:26.43
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	6th	400 m hurdles	54.92
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	5th	400 m hurdles	55.55
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.21
	Pan American Games	Lima, Peru	1st	400 m hurdles	55.16
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:27.01
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	8th	400 m hurdles	54.82
			5th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:25.861
2020	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	5th (sf)	400 m hurdles	55.51
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:21.84
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	8th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:31.45

¹Disqualified in the final

Personal bests

Outdoor

• 200 metres – 23.80 (-0.2 m/s, Tucson 2017)
• 400 metres – 51.62 (Tucson 2018)
• 400 metres hurdles – 54.32 (Doha 2019)

Indoor

• 400 metres – 51.84 (College Station 2018)

References

1. Canadian Olympic Committee bio
2. "Sage Watson". IAAF. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
3. Hossain, Asif (11 July 2016). "Athletics Canada nominates largest squad to Team Canada for Rio". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
4. Harrison, Doug (2 October 2019). "Sage Watson shatters Canadian hurdles record en route to 400m world final". CBC Sports. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
5. Harrison, Doug (7 August 2021). "Canadian women narrowly miss track relay medal at 2nd straight Olympics". CBC Sports. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
6. Harrison, Doug (20 June 2022). "Damian Warner withdraws from this week's track and field nationals with sore knee". CBC Sports.

External links

• Sage Walker at World Athletics
• Sage Walker at Athletics Canada
• Sage Watson profiles at TFRRS: Florida State University (2012–2015), University of Arizona (2015–2017)
• Sage Watson at Eurosport
• Sage Watson at Arizona Wildcats
• Sage Watson at Florida State Seminoles (archived)
• Sage Watson at All-Athletics.com (archived)
• Sage Watson at Team Canada
• Sage Watson at Olympics.com
• Sage Watson at Olympedia (archive)
• Sage Watson at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)
• Sage Heather Watson at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games