After a long road back from injury, Toronto’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford is still a force on the track. On Saturday morning in Northern Ireland, the two-time Canadian Olympian ran her fastest 3,000m since setting the Canadian indoor record in 2022, running 8:39.35 in a solo effort at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet.
“8:39 and the win today in Belfast!” DeBues-Stafford wrote on Instagram. “I’m super, super happy with this result. I had to do a lot of work solo today (not the way I am the most comfortable racing), and took the lead with 2,200m to go. I got into a good rhythm and closed the final kilometre in 2:43.”
Her time of 8:39.35 ranks as the fastest Canadian 3,000m this year and the 10th-fastest outdoor time by a Canadian woman ever. She won the race by a margin of 33 seconds.
The 29-year-old has been rebuilding her fitness after a tough couple of years, plagued by injury. In late 2024, she relocated from Vancouver Island to Edinburgh, Scotland, to train under coach Mark Rowland as part of the University of Edinburgh’s Global Endurance Project. She made the move with her partner and coach, Rowan, seeking a fresh start.
DeBues-Stafford missed the entire 2022 season with a stress reaction in her sacrum. Just as she began to recover, she aggravated her SI joint so severely that she couldn’t walk, which forced her to sit out nearly all of 2023. She’s been candid about the root causes, citing under-fuelling, sleep issues, mechanical imbalances and stress.
“I’m proud to get my fitness back to a good place,” she said. “It hasn’t been an easy journey, but I think I’ve finally got my mojo back.”
Next up, DeBues-Stafford will race the 1,500m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet in Brussels in two weeks, followed by a fast 5,000m at the FAST5000 in Maisons-Laffitte, France, where she’ll target the women’s 5,000m world championship standard of 14:50.
