Eric Gillis (born March 8, 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

athlete. He was born and raised in the community of

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. He resides in

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

as the head coach of the

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

cross country and track teams.

Sporting career

Gillis ran collegiately for the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...

from 1998 until 2004, during which time he individually won the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

Cross Country Championship and competed at the World University Games twice. Since becoming a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

, Gillis has experienced much national and international success during his

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

career. He represented Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 10,000m, as well as the marathon at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. Gillis qualified for the London Olympics on October 16, 2011, with a 2:11:28 finish at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race. The race has quickly become an elite level marathon and is one of just five World ...

. In 2016 he was inducted into the StFX Sports Hall of Fame and in 2017 was named assistant coach of the X-Men Cross Country and Track and Field Teams, with plans to become head coach the following year.

Career highlights

*2016: 10th-place finish Olympic marathon (2:12:29) *2016: Vancouver Sun Run winner, time 28:52 *2012: Competed at the Summer Olympics men's marathon event *2011: Vancouver Sun Run winner, time 29:05. *2008: Canadian 10,000 m Championships, Gold *2008: Canadian Cross Country Championships, Silver *2008: Competed at the Summer Olympics 10,000 m event, finishing 33rd. *2007: Canadian Championships, Bronze *2007: Canadian 10,000 m Championships, Gold *2005: Canadian Championships, Bronze *2003:

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

Cross Country Gold Medalist

2008 Summer Olympics

Gillis went to the Beijing Summer Olympics as a member of Team Canada. He competed in the 10000 metres event on August 17, 2008, in the Beijing National Stadium. Though he was aiming to finish among the top 20, he finished 33rd overall with a time of 29:08.10.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Gillis competed in the men's marathon. He finished in 22nd place with a time of 2:16:00.

2016 Summer Olympics

In July 2016, he was named to Canada's Olympic team. He finished 10th in the marathon in a time of 2:12:29, the first Canadian man to finish in the top 10 in the Olympic marathon since 1976.

References

External links

* *
Profile at Athletics Canada
1980 births Living people Canadian male long-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Antigonish, Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Guelph 20th-century Canadian people 21st-century Canadian people {{Canada-athletics-bio-stub