How a shift in mentality made running fun again for Canada's Paulson after missed Olympics

Whenever Charles Philibert-Thiboutot crossed paths with fellow Canadian runner Will Paulson last season, he remembers his usually relaxed and funny friend feeling stressed about qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics later in the year.

Paulson ultimately fell 42-100ths of a second short of the three-minute, 35-second automatic entry standard in the men's 1,500 metres and struggled to regain his improved form, posting times up to six seconds slower to finish his season.

"I know it was mentally tough for him to rebound from being so close," said Philibert-Thiboutot, who was 1.44 seconds shy of the Olympic standard, only to run 3:34.23 shortly after the qualifying window had closed.

In April, the reigning Canadian champion noticed a big change in his friend at an altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Ariz., where Paulson was working out with his Oregon Track Club Elite teammates. He and Philibert-Thiboutot hung out regularly and ran together a couple of times.

"I could see he was in a much better state [of mind]. He was telling me about his workouts," Philibert-Thiboutot said, "which on paper were impressive and dominant and quite telling because there are Olympic finalists in his training group.

"He told me his mentality has shifted this year in training and it's more about having fun and giving his best rather than trying to chase a [specific time]. Seeing that his training had gone well, and his mentality had changed, I think the breakout was around the corner. He was hungry for more."

Later in April, Paulson met the 3:35 standard for the track and field world championships in July with a 3:33.97 performance at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif.

He will run his first-ever Diamond League 1,500 this Sunday at 2:15 p.m.