Anna Maslechko of Vancouver crosses the finish line in first place in the girls 2000 metres event Saturday.— Image Credit: Tyler Olsen
Anna Maslechko left it until the last turn of the track in the girls 2000 metres event to take the lead en route to gold at the 2016 BC Summer Games.
Maslechko had run off the back shoulder of the race's leaders through four and a half laps but had entered the final turn in fifth spot as the leading pack of five runners became stretched. Then the Vancouver runner turned on the jets, passing her four competitors and before cruising to gold in the home stretch with a time of 6:49:50.
Abbotsford's Rachel Mortimer led through most of the race's first four laps and finished with a well-earned bronze, just over a second back of Maslechko.
Baneet Bains of Surrey, who had taken the lead briefly in the backstretch of the final lap, finished a close third, just 16 hundredths of a second back of Mortimer.
