On Thursday Athletics Canada announced a team of 13 athletes who will compete at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia on Sept. 30–among them, Canadian marathon and half-marathon record holder Cam Levins, who will race the half-marathon. (Levins announced he will contest the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5.) The event will include the road mile, 5K and half-marathon distances; a mass-participation road race for the general public is also scheduled.
Athletics Canada announced today the team of 13 athletes who will don the maple leaf in the Latvian capital September 30 in the road mile, 5 km and half marathon ????????https://t.co/imI3UV61Hb
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 31, 2023
The event, which replaces the World Half Marathon Championships, falls between the World Athletics Championships and the Pan American Games, to be held Oct. 20 to Nov. 5 in Santiago, Chile.
Beside Levins, the team includes, among others, Canadian record holders Regan Yee (who will contest the road mile) and Ben Flanagan (in the 5K), plus Sasha Gollish and Justin Kent in the half-marathon. All four recently competed in Budapest, along with Kieran Lumb, Briana Scott and Julie-Anne Staehli.
Team Canada
Here is the complete list of athletes who will travel to Riga:
| Athlete | Event | Hometown | Club | Coach | Branch |
| Grace Featherstonhaugh | Road Mile – Women | New Westminster, BC | Oregon State University/Royal City Track & Field | Louie Quintana | British Columbia |
| Regan Yee* | Road Mile – Women | South Hazelton, BC | Under Armour | Stephen Haas | British Columbia |
| Kieran Lumb* | Road Mile – Men | Vancouver, BC | Vancouver Thunderbirds | Andy Powell | British Columbia |
| Robert Heppenstall | Road Mile – Men | Hamilton, ON | Monte Cristo | Phil Steel | Ontario |
| Briana Scott* | 5km – Women | Vancouver, BC | Mile2Marathon | Richard Lee | British Columbia |
| Julie-Anne Staehli* | 5km – Women | Lucknow, ON | Team New Balance Boston | Mark Coogan | Ontario |
| Ben Flanagan* | 5km – Men | Ann Arbor, ON | Very Nice Track Club | Ron Warhurst | Ontario |
| Thomas Fafard | 5km – Men | Repentigny, QC | CAUL | Félix-Antoine Lapointe | Quebec |
| Branna MacDougall | Half Marathon – Women | Glenburnie, ON | Physikult | Steve Boyd | Ontario |
| Sasha Gollish* | Half Marathon – Women | Toronto, ON | Royal City AT | Terry Radchenko | Ontario |
| Cam Levins | Half Marathon – Men | Black Creek, BC | Unattached | Jim Finlayson | British Columbia |
| Justin Kent* | Half Marathon – Men | Burnaby, BC | Coastal Track Club | Richard Lee | British Columbia |
| Phil Parrot-Migas | Half Marathon – Men | London, ON | London Western Track and Field Club | Dave Mills | Ontario |
* Competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships