Lucia Stafford

Stafford was born in London, Ontario and grew up in Toronto.{{cite news|first=Matt|last=Scace|title=How the Stafford sisters turned a wee sibling rivalry into two Olympic track careers|url=https://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics/olympic-sisters-canadian-track-athletes|work=The National Post|date=23 July 2021|access-date=31 August 2021}} Her father James Stafford was a former competitive runner and represented Canada at four World Cross Country Championships. She and her older sister Gabriela DeBues-Stafford initially trained in competitive Irish dancing, but DeBues-Stafford switched to running, subsequently joined by Stafford to spend more time with her father and sister. Both sisters were diagnosed with Graves' disease as teenagers, with Stafford's case proving a considerable hindrance in her early career.

In 2017, Stafford won gold at the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in the women's 1500 metres event. She was accepted to the University of Toronto to study civil engineering, and while there, competed for the Varsity Blues.{{cite news|first=Oren|last=Weisfeld|title=Lucia Stafford is ‘super proud’ to be an Olympian — like the ‘superheroes’ she used to admire |url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2021/08/01/lucia-stafford-is-super-proud-to-be-an-olympian-like-the-superheroes-she-used-to-admire.html|work=The Toronto Star|date=1 August 2021|access-date=31 August 2021}} At the 2019 Summer Universiade, Stafford finished in fifth in the 4x400 relay and the 1500 m.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of much of the 2020 athletic season and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo being delayed by a full year. For Stafford, this afforded her time to recover from a thyroid procedure that she credited with allowing her to train more consistently. In July 2021, Stafford was named to Canada's 2020 Olympic team in the women's 1500 m event, alongside her sister.{{cite news|url=https://olympic.ca/2021/07/03/team-canada-to-have-57-competitors-in-athletics-at-tokyo-2020/|title=Team Canada to have 57 competitors in athletics at Tokyo 2020|last=Nichols|first=Paula|date=3 July 2021|website=www.olympic.ca/|publisher=Canadian Olympic Committee|accessdate=3 July 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/trackandfield/canadian-olympic-athletics-team-july-3-1.6089148|title=57 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic track & field team|date=3 July 2021|website=www.cbc.ca/|publisher=CBC Sports|access-date=3 July 2021}} She qualified to the semi-final, but finished thirteenth overall there, 0.43 seconds behind Spain's Marta Pérez, and missed advancing to the final. Her time of 4:02.12 was a new personal best.{{cite news|last=Harrison|first=Doug|title=Gabriela DeBues-Stafford to run for Olympic gold medal in 1,500 metres |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/trackandfield/olympics-track-and-field-roundup-aug-4-1.6128849|work=CBC Sports|date=4 August 2021|access-date=31 August 2021}}

In advance of the 2022 season, Stafford moved to train at the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, joining her sister Gabriela.{{cite news|last=Francis|first=Anne|title=Lucia Stafford and Andrea Seccafien join Bowerman Track Club |url=https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/lucia-stafford-and-andrea-seccafien-join-bowerman-track-club/|magazine=Canadian Running|date=19 November 2021|access-date=16 August 2022}} However, they would both depart the club early in the following year, citing controversy around another club member, Shelby Houlihan.{{cite news|title=Canadian runner DeBues-Stafford leaves training centre over Houlihan burrito case |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/trackandfield/olympics-track-field-debues-stafford-moves-victoria-1.6417022|last=Ewing|first=Lori|work=CBC Sports|date=12 April 2022|access-date=14 April 2022}} Stafford made her World Indoor debut at the 2022 edition in Belgrade, finishing eighth in the 1500 m.{{cite news |title=Damian Warner wins elusive heptathlon gold in Canadian record effort at indoor worlds |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/trackandfield/warner-world-athletics-indoors-roundup-canada-march19-1.6390990 |last=Harrison |first=Doug |website=CBC Sports |date=March 19, 2022}} She went on to make her World Athletics Championships debut as well, but came thirty-fourth in the heats of the 4:09.67 and did not advance to the semi-finals. She was also named to Canada's team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but her preparations were hindered by contracting COVID-19. Despite this, she qualified to the 1500 m final and finished eleventh, albeit well off her personal best. Stafford reflected that "all you can ask for yourself is to do your best. I know it's very far from where I want to be, but I always count on myself to do my best."{{cite news|title=Commonwealth Games – Day 7: Canada's final day at the track sandwiched between two historic moments |url=https://athletics.ca/commonwealth-games-day-7-canadas-final-day-at-the-track-sandwiched-between-two-historic-moments-%EF%BF%BC/|website=Athletics Canada|date=7 August 2022|access-date=16 August 2022}}

Following her departure from the Bowerman Club, Stafford resumed training in Toronto with longtime coach Terry Radchenko.{{cite news|last=Ewing|first=Lori|title=Lucia Stafford finding success on the track back in Toronto with longtime coach|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/article-lucia-stafford-finding-success-on-the-track-back-in-toronto-with/|newspaper=The Globe & Mail|date=2 February 2023|access-date=3 September 2023}} On January 28, 2023, Stafford broke the North American indoor record in the 1000 metres with a time of 2:33.75 at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston.{{Cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Marley |date=January 28, 2023 |title=Lucia Stafford obliterates Canadian 1,000m record in season opener |url=https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/lucia-stafford-obliterates-canadian-1000m-record-in-season-opener/ |access-date=January 28, 2023 |website=Canadian Running Magazine |language=en}} She moved to ninth on the world indoor all-time list.{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2023 |title=Lucia Stafford Breaks Canadian and North American 1,000m Record at BU |url=https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=653792 |access-date=January 29, 2023 |website=DyeStat}} After narrowly missing the World Athletics Championship qualifying standard for the 1500 m at the 2023 Millrose Games, she cleared it with a personal best 4:02.03 at the USATF LA Grand Prix on May 27.{{cite news|last=Dickinson|first=Marley|title=Lucia Stafford hits world championship standard at L.A. Grand Prix|url=https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/lucia-stafford-hits-world-championship-standard-at-l-a-grand-prix/|magazine=Canadian Running|date=29 May 2023|access-date=3 September 2023}} Stafford finished 28th in the heats of the 1500 m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, running a 4:05.21.{{cite news|title=Worlds Day 1: Breaking records in Budapest|url=https://athletics.ca/blog/2023/08/19/breaking-records-in-budapest/|website=Athletics Canada|date=19 August 2023|access-date=3 September 2023}} She later described the heat as "probably the most physical race I've been in. When you're competing with the best in the world, there's no room for imperfection."{{cite web |url= https://www.instagram.com/p/CwIZ3KHtgSH/ |title= That’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes 🍪 |first= Lucia |last= Stafford |type= Instagram |date= August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/luciastafford7/3172899679083299975 |archive-date=September 3, 2023 }}

She competed in the 1500 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in August 2024.{{cite web|url= https://www.watchathletics.com/page/5848/women-s-1500m-results-paris-olympic-games-2024-athletics |website=Watch Athletics|accessdate=8 September 2024|date=10 August 2024|title=Women's 1500m Results - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics

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Stafford is the daughter of Jamie Stafford, a statistics professor at the University of Toronto, and Maria Luisa Gardner, a teacher. When Stafford was 10, her mother died from leukemia. Stafford has an older sister Gabriela Debues-Stafford, who is also an Olympian runner. She also has a younger brother, Nicholas. Stafford’s family includes her stepmother, Leanne Shafir, and stepsisters, Talia and Gabrielle. {{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/for-gabriela-stafford-her-rio-race-is-dedicated-to-someone-else/article31383291/|title= For Gabriela Stafford, her Rio race is dedicated to someone else|date=11 August 2016|website=The Globe and Mail|access-date=31 May 2022}} Both Gabriela and Lucia are trilingual, speaking English, French and Spanish.{{cite news|first=Madeleine|last=Kelly|title=The best sister in the world |url=https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/the-best-sister-in-the-world/|work=Canadian Running|date=23 June 2021|access-date=31 August 2021}}

In the fall of 2022, Stafford enrolled in the singer/songwriter program at Seneca College.

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• {{World Athletics}}
• {{Athletics Canada|lucia-stafford}}
• {{Team Canada|lucia-stafford}}
• {{Olympics.com profile|lucia-stafford}}
• {{Olympedia}}
• [https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/lucia-stafford_1974314 Lucia Stafford] at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
• {{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|63765}}

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Category:1998 births

Category:Living people

Category:Track and field athletes from Toronto

Category:Canadian female middle-distance runners

Category:Sportspeople from London, Ontario

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Category:Olympic track and field athletes for Canada

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada

Category:21st-century Canadian sportswomen