A cross country competitor from Forest is in Montreal, Quebec this weekend for the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Track and Field Trials.
Connor Black, 25, is scheduled to compete in the 5,000 metre event on Saturday at 8 p.m.
He said his mindset for this competition is to gain experience.
"I would have to have a really huge breakthrough at the trials to get selected and my realist self knows that's very unlikely but regardless, it's still a great experience for me to line-up at a nationals 5,000," he said. "I still think that I am a little bit immature in the event so just getting out there and championship racing is going to be great for my development."
Black said although he is excited about the event, he's a little disappointed with the turnout.
"Typically you would see, in a normal year, probably a field of 20 athletes. This year it was reduced down to 10 and it was an invite-only process [due to COVID-19 restrictions]," he said.
Not all invited athletes showed up for the trials. There are only four competitors listed for the 5,000m event, including Black and fellow London Western Track and Field Club teammate Mike Tate.
"I'm used to competing with Mike. He's one of my closest friends and we've been training together for a couple of years now," said Black. "It'll be good fun getting out there with him."
The two are now used to competing under strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Black said they recently competed in New York and Portland, Oregon in May. They then spent two weeks in quarantine upon arrival in Canada and trained on treadmills.
"It has been something that we have had to put a lot of thought into," he said.
The Olympic Trials run from June 24 until June 27.
Olympic gold medalist Derek Drouin, from Corunna, recently pulled out of the trials.
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UPDATE:
Connor Black placed third in Saturday night's event with a time of 14:17.87.
