Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers, runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford earn repeat wins at Paavo Nurmi Games

Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers and middle-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford found themselves in familiar territory Wednesday in Finland, repeating as champions for Canada at the 69th Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku.

Rogers saved the best for last, unleashing her sixth and final throw 80.09 metres, 3.68m ahead of her closest competitor, Silja Kosonen, whose Finnish teammate Krista Tervo was third (75.55). Kosonen threw a season-best 76.41.

It marked Rogers’s 12th consecutive victory since placing second on June 3, 2025 at the Trond Mohn Games in Bergen, Norway.

She also defeated Kosonen a year ago at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet with a best throw of 74.59 of her fifth attempt. She fouled three times that day but didn’t record a foul Wednesday.

“It’s just my fourth competition [of the season] and already I have achieved a lot,” said Rogers, who hails from Richmond, B.C. She opened her season April 2 with an 81.13 throw in Austin, Texas before 79.63 in Oklahoma.

The Canadian took nearly six weeks off following her most recent event on April 24 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, where Rogers also repeated as champion with a winning throw of 80.03.

After her final throw landed at Paavo Nurmi Stadium, Rogers raised both arms over her head after the final throw landed and received a rousing ovation on a sunny evening.

“Paavo Nurmi Games is one of my favourite meets. The stadium is always full, and the people are so nice. People are so passionate [here] about athletics,” she said.

Rogers said she is seeing the benefit of her growth from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics through the World Athletics Championships last September.

“We are slowing figuring things out,” Rogers said, referring to her coach, “on how I am operating as an athlete. I feel there is a lot more in the tank and it keeps me excited.”

Last September, Rogers captured her second world title, and is also the defending Olympic champion after taking gold at Paris 2024.

DeBues-Stafford returns from stress fracture in shin

DeBues-Stafford’s victory on Wednesday was more surprising, given it was her first race since sustaining a stress fracture in one of her shins.

The Toronto athlete sat third behind two pacers early on and made her move fewer than 300 metres to the finish line, taking the lead. DeBues-Stafford opened a two-metre gap on the final straightaway and increased her lead over the final 10 to 15 metres, finishing in four minutes 4.40 seconds.

“It’s not the worst injury you could get but not the best either,” DeBues-Stafford said of the shin ailment. “I have been training for a while now and starting to feel a bit more like myself.

“I didn’t feel great today but was telling myself during the race, ‘You’re OK, you’re OK, just push.’ I took control and hoped nobody could [catch] me.”

Joceline Wind of Switzerland was second (4:05.45) and Germany’s Majtie Kolbert took third (4:05.67 PB).

A year ago, DeBues-Stafford set the Paavo Nurmi Games record in the women’s 1,500 in 4:02, her fastest race in over three years since going 3:58.62 at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meet on May 28, 2022.

DeBues-Stafford also clocked 4:02 in the world heats last summer in Tokyo, where she placed 11th in the final in 3:59.65. Her 3:56.12 Canadian record has stood since Oct. 5, 2019.

“It feels good to still keep it,” said DeBues-Stafford of the Paavo Nurmi record. “I love Turku, it’s a great meet.”

The women’s 1,500 events on the Diamond League pro track and field circuit conflict with her preparation for the June 17-21 Canadian track and field championships in Ottawa, so DeBues-Stafford is shifting her focus to the Commonwealth Games, July 23 August 2.

“I’ll use this year as a building block for next year and the world championships in Beijing,” she said.

Mitton threw season best in Shanghai

In other Canadian results on Wednesday, Sarah Mitton and Jean-Simon Desgagnes placed third in women’s shot put and men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase.

Mitton, a two-time Olympian, opened the competition with a throw of 18.83 metres and managed the best of her six attempts on her third throw, measuring 19.47.

The 29-year-old from Brooklyn, N.S., was fresh off a 20.42 season best at the opening stop of the Diamond League season on May 16 in Shanghai.

Mitton, who won the indoor world title in 2024 and 2025, was dethroned by American Chase Jackson at this year’s event in Torun, Poland.

Jackson took Wednesday’s competition with a 20.66 mark, eclipsing her 19.38 meet record from June 11, 2019. Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands was second (20.18).

Desgagnes, competing at his second Paavo Nurmi Games, stopped the clock in eight minutes 14.85 seconds, less than a half-second slower than his 2025 clocking of 8:14.40 in Turku.

Wednesday was the first steeplechase for the native of Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., since the World Athletics Championships last summer in Tokyo, where Desgagnes placed 13th in the final.

The 27-year-old has already set two personal bests this season, in the indoor 3,000 (7:45.64) and outdoor 5,000 (13:18.67).

Mohammed Tindoufti of Morocco was first to the finish Wednesday in 8:11.52.

Calgary’s Aaron Ahl was fifth in Wednesday’s steeple, stopping the clock in 8:17.22, 5-100ths of a second off his PB from Aug. 17, 2025.

• Sprinter Sade McCreath, from Ajax, Ont., improved her 11.42-second performance in the women’s 100 heats, clocking 11.35 into a slight headwind for fourth place. Minke Bisschops of the Netherlands was victorious in 11.25.
• Vancouver’s Kieran Lumb was fifth Wednesday in his first 5,000m race since winning at the national championships nearly a year ago in Ottawa. He also shaved 21 seconds off that July 31, 2025 time, crossing the line in 13:19.68. Lumb, 27, recorded a 13:12.54 PB last July 19.

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