Running on tired legs, Canada’s quartet delivered a clutch podium finish on the last day of competition in Germany
women’s 4x400m fisu bronze
Photo by: Athletics Canada/U Sports International
On the final day of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, the Canadian women’s 4x400m relay ended the meet on a high note. At Bochum, Germany’s Lohrheidestadion, the quartet of U Sports athletes Paige Willems (University of Saskatchewan), Tyra Boug (Western University), Georgia Oland (University of Calgary) and Favour Okpali (Western University) raced to bronze in 3:34.16– Canada’s 11th and final medal of the Games.
Germany took gold in 3:29.68, with Poland second in 3:30.21.
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None of the Canadians came in with fresh legs; all four juggled multiple events throughout the week. Willems advanced the 400m semi-finals and ran a leg of the mixed 4x400m relay, while Boug nacre just shy of the 100m hurdles semi-final.
Oland, a late addition to the relay pool, had already competed in the 100m, 4x100m relay and 200m heats and semi-finals. Okpali, who anchored both the heats and final, also qualified for the 400m final in 52.84–the second-fastest time of her career. She went on to place eighth overall.
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A different lineup–featuring Shelby MacIsaac of the University of New Brunswick in place of Oland– had secured the team’s spot in the final with a 3:35.15 win in their first-round heat on Saturday. The Canadian men’s 4x400m quad also advanced to their final, where they placed sixth.
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The bronze marks Canada’s second athletics medal of the Games. On Friday, 21-year-old pole vaulter Rachel Grenke of the University of Alberta soared to bronze with a final attempt of 4.35 metres–a lifetime best and the fifth-ranked mark in Canada this year.
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