By Anfal Hanif
Most parents tell their kids not to chase cars. Well, Joe Gale encouraged it, and now his daughter is a speedy two-time Olympian and Canada’s fastest one-lap runner heading into the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
OK, he didn’t want her sprinting around busy streets with reckless abandon, but the fun challenge he developed with a young Lauren Gale did happen to shape her future.
“When she was 6 or 7 and we lived in Gagetown, (N.B.), I often came home from work for lunch,” recounts Gale’s father, who was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. “When I went back to work, I would rev the car engine and she would line up on the sidewalk beside me. We would say, ‘On your mark, get set, go!’ and I would drive away while she ran as fast as she could halfway down the street racing me.”
Those childhood races offered an early glimpse of the speed that would eventually define the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club athlete’s career. While she excelled in nearly every sport she played, running always came naturally.
There may have been family genes at play. Gale’s grandfather Ivan was a strong runner and multi-sport athlete from Cape Breton in the 1950s. Ivan shared his love of competition with Gale and was one of her biggest supporters at the track.
For her family, his impact went beyond sport. He built outdoor rinks, created sliding hills, played catch and fixed bicycles, creating the kind of childhood memories that shaped Gale and her sister Erin.
Ivan passed away in 2020, although Gale still carries that influence with her today.
“My grandfather was a big role model for me,” she highlights. “I think he would have been extremely proud. We always say he has the best seat in the house now to watch my races, so I know he’s rooting for me.”
Like her grandfather, Gale found success in many sports. Her first sporting love was soccer, her speed always serving as one of her biggest strengths, whether she was racing toward the ball or competing against others.
She did later join the Fredericton Track and Field Club, where clues started to emerge about her strong running abilities. Gale’s family moved to different places based on her father’s military postings, and when she landed with the Ottawa Lions at age 12, that’s when her family began to understand her vast potential.
“She was usually faster than most kids in elementary school, but we didn’t think about translating to anything at a higher level at the time. It was just fun and running came naturally to her,” recalls Joe Gale, who vividly remembers a 2012 meet at the Louis-Riel Dome when his daughter ran the 400 metres in 58 seconds.
“One of the coaches was very impressed with that,” notes the recently-retired Lieutenant-Colonel. “We didn’t even know if 58 seconds for a 12-year-old was a good time or not.”
As Gale continued developing, she experimented with different events, including shot put, which she jokes “did not go well,” before finding her home in the sprints.
The 400 m became the event where her speed, endurance and competitiveness came together.
The former South Carleton High School student excelled in scholastic and club competition and was unbeaten in Mountain West women’s 400 m competition during her four years at the University of Colorado.
The University of Ottawa masters grad become a regular on national teams and recently won her first senior Canadian title on her home track at Terry Fox Athletic Facility.
Read More: Hometown athletes claim 5 Commonwealth Games berths at Canadian Track and Field Championships
Gale’s first time wearing the maple leaf came in 2017 for the Commonwealth Youth Games. She missed out on the 2022 Commonwealth Games due to a stress fracture in her foot, so she’s now especially eager for the 2026 edition in Scotland, with her first race set for Tuesday morning.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Gale says. “It is always an honour to represent Canada and to wear the maple leaf. I will never take an opportunity like that for granted.”
The 26-year-old is set for the climax of what has perhaps been her strongest season to date overall in Glasgow.
In May at the World Athletics relay in Botswana, Gale was part of Canada’s bronze medal-winning women’s 4×400 m relay team – a step up from her team’s sixth-place performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
On top of her individual title at the Canadian championships, she also helped the Lions to a national club record in the 4×400 m relay.
Then came a trip to beautiful Medellín, Colombia for the inaugural Pan American Athletics Championships, where Gale earned her first international title by .01 seconds.
“It was a well executed run and a good time to run as well,” signals Gale, who clocked her second-fastest time ever to win in 50.68 seconds, just off her 2024 personal-best of 50.47. “Being the top in all of the Americas is a super cool feeling.”
Gale is lone Canadian woman entered in her event in Glasgow. A place in the final and perhaps on the podium could certainly be within reach.
“I feel very lucky to be selected to represent Canada and as the only 400 m woman selected for Canada, I need to do a good job,” she indicates. “I want to execute my race correctly. The times will come if I do this.”
Gale’s list of achievements continues to grow, but there have been numerous setbacks along the way, including a labral hip surgery in 2017, a fractured foot at the 2022 World Championships and falling ill/being hospitalized the night before her individual race at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Injuries are only part of the struggle.
“Track is also a hard sport mentally and you have to push through it every day at practice whether you want to be there or not because you know it will make you better,” she underlines. “You’re also missing events, weddings, birthdays and many things you’d love to be at, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get to where you want to be.”
Those difficult moments in the journey are when Gale has been particularly grateful to have a family that’s supported her every step of the way. That includes her extended track family.
“With the Ottawa Lions being the beginning of my serious track career to still supporting me now as I train for a third Olympic Games, they mean the world to me as a club,” says Gale, who also enjoyed the opportunity to compete in a team atmosphere in the Canadian Track and Field League this season.
There were many Lions in attendance at her wedding last October in Colorado.
“It seemed like half of the entire Lions club travelled down to support her and be part of the wedding,” echoes the father of the bride. “I get emotional thinking about how close they all are with her.”
Joe Gale feels very proud of his daughter’s determined drive and focus, and also her exceptional kindness and thoughtfulness. It’s those types of traits that make Gale an inspirational figure for the next generation of girls running around the track, or chasing cars.
“I don’t think 12-year-old Lauren would have thought she would have been to so many places and become a world medallist,” Gale reflects.
Gale is one of five Ottawa track-and-field athletes set to compete in Glasgow.
The others are David Moulongou (men’s 400 m hurdles), Maëliss Trapeau (women’s 800 m), Segun Makinde (men’s T12 100 m guide runner) and men’s 100 m, 200 m and 4×100 m relay runner Eliezer Adjibi, who became the fourth-fastest Canadian of all-time in the men’s 100 m when he ran 9.92 seconds to win the silver medal at the Pan Am Championships.
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