Lucia Stafford is starting to follow in the footsteps of her sister, literally, by shattering records on the track. On Saturday afternoon, she opened her 2023 season indoors and topped the women's field in two minutes 33.75 seconds over 1,000 metres at the Boston University Terrier Classic for her first Canadian national senior record.
The 24-year-old from Toronto beat her closest competitor to the finish by nearly three seconds as American Allie Wilson reached it in 2:36.31.
Stafford, whose previous best was 2:37.73, broke the Canadian mark of 2:37.04 held by Calgary's Jenna Westaway since Feb. 8, 2019.
Stafford's clocking is the fastest indoors by any North American woman in history. Regina Jacobs, a three-time U.S. Olympian and former middle-distance athlete, ran 2:31.80 outdoors with a 2:35.29 indoor best, according to her World Athletics profile.