Marathoners headline initial Canadian squad for World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

Athletics Canada unveiled its marathon team for this year's World Athletics Championships — three men, three women — but its top qualifier is skipping the event to attempt a national record in the fall.

Rory Linkletter, who ran the Boston Marathon in two hours seven minutes two seconds last month, wants to lower that personal best to 2:05 or 2:06 in the next year or two.

That wouldn't happen in the men's world marathon on Sept. 15, the Calgary-born runner said, as the Tokyo heat would make it less conducive to achieving a fast time.

"I'd like to go for the Canadian record in the fall instead," Linkletter told CBC Sports, rhyming off the potential options of Chicago, The Marathon Project in Chandler, Ariz., and Valencia, Spain.

The 2:05:36 national mark is held by Cam Levins, who was added to the Canadian team in Linkletter's place, along with 2024 Olympian Ben Preisner and 2024 Canadian marathon champion Justin Kent.

None of the Canadians ran the 2:06:30 entry standard to automatically qualify for worlds. Linkletter was 40th in the world rankings quota among the top 100 to be selected, followed by Preisner (65th) and Kent (67th). Levins was outside the top 100 but the next highest Canadian.

On the women's side, Canadian record holder Natasha Wodak, two-time Olympian Malindi Elmore and longtime distance runner Leslie Sexton were also named to the Sept. 13-21 event. They, too, didn't run the 2:23:30 qualifying standard and ranked 56th, 67th and 70th, respectively.

The eight-member team also includes four-time Olympian Moh Ahmed in the 10,000 metres and world record race walker Evan Dunfee.

Recently, Levins told CBC Sports he was undecided about racing at worlds or a major marathon – Sydney is Aug. 31 followed by Berlin