KNIGHT Justyn

General
GOING PRO
In 2018 after leaving Syracuse University, he turned professional and joined the newly-formed Reebok Boston Track Club in Charlottesville, VA, United States of America. There he reunited with coach Chris Fox, who left his coaching position at Syracuse to also join the club. "I was like, 'Coach, would you ever want to work with me as a pro?' Becoming a pro runner is a huge milestone in my life. Being able to share that with people who were there at the beginning, when nobody knew if I was going to be good, is special." (runnerspace.com, 07 Feb 2020; cbc.ca, 23 Jul 2018)

TRIPLE THREAT
In March 2020 he set a new Canadian indoor record for the men's 1500m, running 3:36.13s to break Doug Consiglio's record of 3:38.73 that had stood since 1986. However, he says he feels more competitive in the 5000m event. "The 1500m, I'm competitive in it and it's something I like to do for fun, but the 5000m is more my game. In my time at Syracuse [University] I've won ACC championships in the 1500m. I've won 5000m championships. Cross-country is a 10,000m. I've always visualised myself as a triple threat, and actually another fun fact, I think my senior year I ran the sixth-fastest time ever in the NCAA in the 1500m. I've won NCAA indoors in the 5000m. I like to dabble in the 1500m, but on a national stage I think I take the 5000m a little bit more seriously." (syracuse.com, 17 Mar 2020)

MISSING 2016 OLYMPIC STANDARD
He said missing the Olympic standard for the 5000m event in 2016 on two occasions, first by two seconds at the NCAA national championships, and then by one second at a meet in Portland, OR, helped him grow as an athlete. "I [first] missed the standard by two seconds and that was by my own doing. There was a Drake album that came out, and I stayed up until four in the morning to download it, and we had to get on our flight [for the NCAA championships] at 05:30. It was a setup for disaster. Then we went to Portland to try to get the standard in 2016. I ended up crossing the line, beating Galen Rupp, who is an Olympic silver medallist, and I was one second off the standard. Just one second. That's literally me leaning at the line, so that was very heartbreaking. But I think it made me a little bit stronger, and I learned how to deal with losing and falling short." (syracuse.com, 17 Mar 2020)