Katie Pegg of Markham, Ont., delivered a personal best performance in women’s shot put Thursday for her first medal at her second Para athletics world championships.
Pegg threw 12.76 metres on her sixth and final attempt for bronze, eight centimetres farther than her previous try at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The 21-year-old threw 11.48 to open the F46 final before settling in against 10 competitors.
“I just went out there, threw a heavy ball really far and I had fun. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself,” Pegg told Athletics Canada. “We’ve been working so hard to get to this very day. Today, walking to that circle, I was ready to go out there and just do the best I could.”
Pegg topped 12 metres for the first time in competition, doing so five times in Thursday’s final. She surpassed her 11.75 PB from earlier this season and was 43 centimetres clear of fourth-place finisher Jihen Azaiez of Tunisia.
“In our training camp, I had thrown 12.50 metres,” said Pegg, adding it was kind of a shock to her. “Walking into [Thursday’s final] I didn’t know what was going to happen.
“I did enough inside and even outside, in terms of gym and work with my coach [Jodi Langley and] it paid off.”
Pegg is the first field medallist for Canada at these championships in India, and the third to grab bronze. Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., reached the podium in men’s 400 T34 on Monday, and Toronto sprinter Marissa Papaconstantinou took bronze in women’s 100 T64.
Karomat Omonova of Uzbekistan entered the final with a PB of 12.13 and won gold with a throw of 13.07 for an Asian record. Holly Robinson of New Zealand collected silver at her third consecutive world championships, throwing the shot 12.86 for an Oceanic record.
The F46 classification is for athletes with a single amputation below or above the elbow.
Pegg, who was born without a radial bone in her right forearm, is in her fourth year studying biology and forensic science at St. Mary’s University in Halifax.
She made her international debut in February 2024 at a Grand Prix event in Dubai and threw a then-11.15 PB for gold.
Pegg made her worlds debut three months later, placing fifth in Kobe, Japan.
WATCH | Replay coverage of Thursday’s field session in New Delhi:
Watch the eleventh field session at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
7th in Paralympics debut
In June 2024, she competed at her first Canadian trials and qualified for the Paralympics in Paris later that summer, surpassing the 11.33 automatic entry standard with a throw of 11.49 PB. Pegg was only nine months into her return to shot put since the COVID-19 pandemic.
She was seventh in the Paralympic final with a best throw of 10.72.
“Growing up with a disability, missing my right radius and having the smaller arm, I always had to fight through things,” Pegg told Athletics Nova Scotia in 2024. “My parents always showed me that no matter what anyone says, I can do it if I put my mind to it.”
Pegg was first exposed to shot put at age three and later was a member of her elementary school team, but football soon became her love. Pegg was among 300 players in the Scarborough minor program and played on the defensive line with the Scarborough Thunder high school squad.
With her track and field season halted due to the pandemic, she focused on football.
However, during her sophomore season at St. Mary’s, Pegg returned to the shot put circle and began working with Langley, the Huskies throws coach and four-time Atlantic University Sport medallist in women’s shot put at Acadian University in Wolfville, N.S.
“Facing adversity while having a physical disability is what made me the person I am today,” Pegg was quoted as saying for a Aug. 6, 2024 story on the St. Mary’s website. “There have been times in my life when people have told me that I couldn’t do something, that I wasn’t strong enough.
“That doubt made me work harder, train longer and become stronger in order to compete with others. My advice for young athletes in a similar situation is to never give up.”
Four Canadians will be vying for a medal on Friday.
Greg Stewart will finally get a chance to throw for his first world title after rain wiped out the men’s shot put F46 final on Thursday.
He’ll be joined by fellow throwers Addisyn Franceschini (women’s shot put F64), Charlotte Bolton (discus, F41) and Julia Hanes (women’s shot put F33).
Other Canadian results Thursday
- Amanda Rummery, Sherwood Park, Alta. — 4th, women’s 400 metres T47 (58.31-second season best)
- Jesse Zesseu, Toronto — 6th, men’s discus F37 final (48.91m)
- Nandini Sharma, Toronto — 8th, women’s 100 T54 (17.54 seconds)
- George Quarcoo, Oshawa, Ont. — 4th, men’s 100 T11 semifinal (11.42 seconds, did not advance to final)
