When I sat down with Hamilton photojournalist Nick Iwanyshyn around this time last year to plan how a small publication like ours would tackle coverage of the Paris Olympic Games, I didn’t know I’d be writing this feature a year later. But Iwanyshyn’s talent has earned him two of Canada’s most prestigious photojournalism honours: National Picture of the Year, in both the Sports Feature and Sports Action categories.
For 11 days, Iwanyshyn was trackside at the Stade de France, capturing moments of triumph, heartbreak and grit for Canadian Running’s web and social channels. He was in the thick of the action, documenting the emotional highs and lows of Olympic competition.
“Being there, living my dream—it was a bucket-list moment,” Iwanyshyn says.
“The toughest part was trying to capture the photos we needed under tight restrictions,” Iwanyshyn told Canadian Running. “I was often stuck in assigned spots, so we had to plan what we wanted to shoot and where we needed to be.”
The 37-year-old says he regularly submits his work for awards, but never expected to receive such recognition from the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC), especially in an Olympic year, when the calibre of sports photography is at its peak.
Iwanyshyn won 2024 Sports Feature Photo of the Year for a post-race image of Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan, captured in a moment of raw emotion as she broke the tape in the women’s marathon to take Olympic gold, after already winning bronze in both the 5,000m and 10,000m earlier in the week.
His 2024 Sports Action Photo of the Year showed Canadian sprint hurdler Mariam Abdul-Rashid powering through to a personal best in the women’s 100m hurdles semifinals, as Liberian hurdler Ebony Robinson fell after hitting a hurdle in the adjacent lane.
When it comes to choosing what images to submit, Iwanyshyn says he keeps it simple: “It’s usually just what I think is a good photo,” he laughs. “We’re competing against all kinds of media, so I try to bring something different to the table.”
One moment he says he’ll never forget: standing on the track, camera in hand, as the Canadian men’s 4x100m relay team—Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney, celebrated Olympic gold.
For young or aspiring photographers, Iwanyshyn’s advice is to start with something you know: “I’ve always been interested in sports and in telling athletes’ stories. That helps. If you’re part of a running community, start by documenting those around you.”
