Calgary marathoner Rory Linkletter 'living out a dream' at Paris Olympics

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Rory Linkletter says he’s living — and loving — life in the fast lane these days.

The question is whether the Calgarian is fast enough to medal in the Olympics’ signature event.

He’d love that when the men’s marathon takes the spotlight early Saturday at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“In my head, top-10 is kind of the golden number,” said Linkletter, who is just hours away from the biggest run of his life. “But I’ll be happy knowing that I had my best race regardless where I finish.

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“The number is the number,” continued the happy dad of two young kids — son Jason, 3, and daughter McLean, 1. “I just want to go in there and give it my best and have my best day on that big of a stage. I kind of pride myself on my ability to show up when it counts most.

“And I think that’s the Olympics, obviously.”

Obviously …

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Although it’s not necessarily in Paris where Linkletter’s thinking about the push for medals in the 42-plus-kilometre grind.

Given the Calgary native and now Arizona resident is just 27 — still young in marathon circles — the focus for him is four years from now at the Summer Games in Los Angeles.

That’s why top-10 really is his podium when the 2024 edition starts Saturday (12 a.m. MT), set against the backdrop of both Paris and Versailles with the route — steeped in French history — ending at the Esplanade des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.

“Yes, hopefully by L.A., podium is my podium,” Linkletter agreed. “I definitely have a long-term vision.

“But I think I can do really well in Paris,” he continued. “And I think the best way for me is just to see this as an amazing opportunity to compete at the highest level and live out a dream that I’ve had since I was probably 14 or 15 years old.

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“This is definitely just a kind of a culminating moment of years and years of hard work. I’ve been running competitively now for the better part of 15 years.”

Linkletter began his journey back in grade school — in Provo, Utah — a few years after leaving Calgary and the community of Somerset, where he lived out his early years.

“I was a stick-ball sports player growing up,” Linkletter said. “I’ve always loved sports. I’m a diehard sports fan, really. I just love competing. I’ve always been a competitive, fiery kid and, from a very young age, I knew I wanted to compete.

“Basically, when I got to high-school age, my dreams of maybe playing the sport like baseball or basketball on the next level looked unrealistic,” Linkletter continued. “But I wanted to keep pursuing stuff at a high level. And I kind of fell backwards into running by virtue of a friend who was going to go run cross-country. I found running in Grade 9 and kind of followed that through all the way through high school and was good enough to get a Division 1 scholarship at BYU.”

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University life suited him well, as he became an all-American in the sport and met his wife, Jill, a gymnast at the high-profile school in Utah.

“I was a successful collegiate athlete to the point where I knew I could run professionally and pursue it for a bit longer, with the Olympics in mind,” Linkletter said. “So I graduated from BYU in 2019, and obviously my sights were set on Tokyo at the time.

“But I fell short in the marathon. I was the fifth-fastest Canadian that cycle and I missed the standard by about a minute. So I didn’t have quite the year that I needed to make that team. But I used that as a motivation and building blocks to get to where I am now and kind of have learned through virtual trial and error how to be a good marathoner. And now I feel really experienced at a very young age.”

He’s got the goods — and the times — to be a contender in Paris.

Linkletter has posted the third-fastest time ever among Canadian marathoners at 2:08:01, that coming in the Games qualifier earlier this year in Seville, Spain.

Only fellow Olympian Cameron Levins has run the marathon faster — twice, in fact.

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And B.C.’s Levins, in his third Olympics, is a medal threat in Paris.

“I’m gonna look to Cam as like kind a leader and a mentor going into these Games,” Linkletter said. “You know, try to glean as much wisdom and and stuff off him and see how he goes about his business and see what I can learn from him.

“But I’ve got a lot of momentum on my side right now, and I’m relatively young in the marathon space,” added Linkletter, himself the 19th-place finisher in 2:12.16 at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. “Marathoners generally are peaking in their early to mid-30s. So I look at this as a really, really awesome opportunity and special one to go to Paris and represent Canada well and try to gain as much experience as I can, with the hopes of using this Olympics as a springboard into the next.

“A while ago, this would’ve felt like a pipe’s dream to be on this stage. But I always kind of dreamt big and stuck with it, and now I’ve kind of started to see the fruits of my labour. So I’m just really looking forward to soaking it all up and having my best race in Paris.”

LOCALS ON DAY 13

• Calgary’s Rae Lekness and Canada’s women’s water polo squad lost 10-5 to Italy in Thursday’s classification contest.

The loss wraps up their Olympic experience in Paris.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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