In 2013 and 2015, Philibert-Thiboutot was selected as Canadian Interuniversity Sport Athlete of the Year.[2]
University career
Graduating high school with personal bests of 1:58 in the 800 m, 4:07 in the 1500 m, and 9:07 in the 3000 m, Philibert-Thiboutot chose to attend Laval University in his hometown of Quebec City where he would compete for the Laval Rouge et Or cross country and track and field teams coached by Felix-Antoine Lapointe.[4]
2011: Rookie year
In 2011, his first year competing for the Rouge et Or, he qualified for the CIS Track and Field Championships in Sherbrooke. At the championship, he contested the 3000 m where he finishing 10th in a time of 8:31.54. He also competed as part of Laval's 4 × 800 metres relay team, which finished 6th in 7:46.33.
2012: Quadruple at CIS
Competing at the 2012 CIS Track and Field Championships held in Winnipeg, he contested an impressive four events: the 1000 m, 1500 m, the 4 × 400 m, and the 4 x 800 m. Individually he earned podium finishes in the 1000 m and 1500 m, placing 3rd and 2nd respectively. Competing as part of Laval's 4 × 400 m he finished 7th and on the 4 x 800 m he placed 5th as part of the Rouge et Or foursome.
In June 2012, Philibert-Thiboutot ran a 1500 m personal best of 3:41.75 in Indianapolis and finished 7th at the Canadian Championships in Calgary in 3:51.97.
Later that summer, Charles made his international debut, representing Canada at the NACAC U23 Championships in Iraputo, Mexico. Competing in the 1500 m, he placed 2nd in a time of 3:52.00 behind the USA's Kyle Merber.
2013: Jeux de la Francophonie
In summer 2013, Charles placed 5th at the Canadian Championships and ran a personal best of 3:40.57 over 1500 m at the Victoria International Track Classic. In September of that year, he competed at the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie in Nice. Once again contesting the 1500 m, he placed 7th in a tactical race, running a time of 3:58.50.
Despite being known for his middle-distance prowess, Philibert-Thiboutot earned an impressive bronze medal finish at the 2013 CIS Cross Country Championships, contested over 10 km, leading Laval to a 3rd place team finish.
2014: CIS Champion
In 2014, Charles earned his first CIS title, winning the 1500 m at the CIS Championships in Edmonton, in a time of 3:48.69. Contesting the 3000 m as well, he would place 2nd and would also anchor Laval's 4 x 800 m squad to a 4th place finish.
On May 15, Philibert-Thiboutot opened his outdoor season with a personal best of 3:38.55 in Los Angeles, breaking the 3:40 barrier for the first time. One month later, he competed at the American Milers Series in Indianapolis where he would run another personal best of 3:38.33. Two weeks later on June 29, he finished second at the Canadian Championships in Moncton just 0.35 seconds behind 2-time Olympian Nathan Brannen.
At the 2014 CIS Cross Country Championships, Philibert-Thiboutot replicated his finish from the previous year placing 3rd over a challenging 10 km course in St. John's.
2015: Final year of university competition
2015 marked Philibert-Thiboutot's final season of university competition. At the CIS Championships he contested two individual events winning the 1000 m and placing 2nd in the 3000 m, just two hours after the 1000 m. He had planned to contest the 1500 m as well, the next day however he contracted gastroenteritis which confined him to a hospital bed making him unable to contest the event. As part of Laval's 4 x 800 m team, he finished 6th.
Professional career
2015: World Championships debut
Charles opened his 2015 outdoor season at the Payton Jordan Invitational running 3:42.72 over 1500 m. On June 11 he competed in his first ever Diamond League meeting, contesting the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo. He would go on to finish 8th in 3:54.52, a 3 second personal best and making him the 4th fastest Canadian of all time over the distance. In July, Charles competed finished 2nd at the Canadian Championships, replicated his finish from the previous year.
Competed at the Monaco Diamond League, Charles ran a 4 second 1500 m personal best clocking a time of 3:34.23, achieving the World Championship and Olympic qualifying standards in the process. The next week, he competed at the Pan Am Games taking place in Toronto. He would go on to place 3rd, joining silver medalist and fellow Canadian Nathan Brannen on the podium.
On August 27, Charles made his World Championship debut in Beijing. In his heat, he finished 7th in 3:39.72, advancing him through to the semi-finals as a time qualifier. The next day he competed in the semi-finals where he finished 10th in his heat, not enough to qualify him for the world final.
2016: Rio Olympics
In 2016, Philibert-Thiboutot signed a five-year extension to his professional contract with Asics having already been sponsored by the company throughout his university career.[5]
Charles opened his outdoor season in Los Angeles on May 20, running a time of 3:38.39 over 1500 m. His next race came at the Rome Diamond League, where he finished 11th in a time of 3:36.00. He claimed his first Canadian title in Edmonton on July 9, winning the Olympic Trials 1500 m in 3:55.75. The next week, he competed at the Monaco Diamond League running 3:34.34, his second fastest 1500 m ever.
On August 16, Philibert-Thiboutot made his Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro. He made it through the first round, qualifying through to the semi-finals on time with a mark of 3:40.04. Two days later, he contested the semi-final, but in a repeat of the 2015 World Championships, he was unable to advance to the final.
The final two races of his 2016 campaign were both road races. On September 3 he finished fifth at the Fifth Avenue Mile in 3:52.5 and took first place at the Canadian 5 km Championships in 14:04 on September 11.
2017: Missing the World Championships
Charles opened his 2017 indoor season on January 28, running a 3000 m personal best of 7:46.22 in Seattle. On February 11, he became the first Quebecker to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile indoors, running 3:55.33 for 4th place in the Wanamaker Mile.
Despite suffering from achilles tendon issues,[6] Philibert-Thiboutot defended his Canadian title in Ottawa, running a time of 3:45.32 in the process.
On July 12, he ran his season's best 1500 m of 3:37.91 in Saint-Therese, Quebec, but missed the qualifying standard for the 2017 World Championships. In his last attempt to hit the standard on July 22, just one day before the qualifying window closed, he ran 3:39.34 in Belgium, missing the mark by 3.94 seconds. Without the standard, he missed out on the 2017 World Championships in London.
2018: NACAC Bronze
Heading into 2018, Charles still suffered from persistent achilles tendon issues but was able to open his outdoor season with a 3:37.73 1500 m in Prague on June 4. At the Canadian Championships in July, he once again defended his national title, running a time of 3:46.19.
Later that summer, he competed at the NACAC Championships in Toronto, winning bronze as part of the home team. He also represented the Americas at what would be the final edition of the IAAF Continental Cup, placing 4th in a time of 3:40.90
2019-2020: Injury
As a result of stress fracture in his foot, Philibert-Thiboutot only raced once in 2019, a 13:30.79 5000 m at Boston University on December 7.
In 2020, Charles raced sparingly once again due to both the ongoing pandemic and a tear in his calf muscle. Contesting just 4 races later in the year he ran a 14:04 road 5 km and 31:25 road 10 km in Quebec. On November 21, he made his debut over the 10,000 m on the track, running a time of 28:45. On December 4, competed over 5000 m in California, running an 8 second personal best of 13:22.44.
2021: Missing the Tokyo Olympics
In February 2021, Charles announced he had switched sponsors, ending his previous contract with Asics and signing with New Balance.[7]
On 27 June, CPT won the Canadian Olympic Trials 1500 m in a time of 3:40.11, but without the Olympic Standard, his fastest time so far having come from 3:36.44 performance in Montreuil, and not having a sufficiently high world ranking, he didn't qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo.
Despite not qualifying to represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, he finished his season on a high note, with a 3:34.43 1500 m season's best in Azusa, California, a win over the mile in Falmouth, Massachusetts in a personal best of 3:52.97, and running 3:54.0 for 9th in the Fifth Avenue Mile.
2022: Return to the World Championships
2022 marked a significant return to form for Charles, opening his season with a win at the B.A.A. 5K in 13:35, breaking Paul Williams' Canadian road 5 km record 13:36 set in 1986.[8] On 6 May, he followed his BAA 5K win up with a 5000 m personal best of 13:12.76 in San Juan Capistrano. On 14 May, he set a 10,000 m personal best of 28:11.81 to take 2nd at the Canadian 10,000 Championships in Burnaby.
Off the back of his strong performances in late 2021, as well as a 3:53.82 mile at the Pre Classic and a 3:35.80 1500 m performance at the Portland Track Festival, CPT earned enough ranking points to qualify for his first World Championships since 2015.
After a win over 5000 m at the Canadian Championships in 13:31.98, he also qualified for the World Championships in the 5000 m.
At the Championship, taking place in Eugene, Oregon, he contested both the 1500 m and 5000 m. His first race of the championships was the 1500 m heats on 16 July, where he ran a season's best of 3:35.02 to finish second in his heat, advancing him to the semi-finals, taking place the following day. He ran well in his semi-final, taking 7th place, but outside of the top 5 needed to secure a place in the finals. After being eliminated from the 1500 m, Charles shifted focus to the 5000 m heats taking place on 21 July. He would go on to finished 15th in his heat, 14 seconds back of a top 6 placing that would have advanced him to the final.
Later that summer, CPT competed in the 1500 m at the NACAC Championships in Freeport. He won a bronze medal behind Americans Johnny Gregorek and Eric Holt, repeating his performance from the 2018 edition of the event.
2023: Pan Am Games Gold
Charles opened his 2023 season on 27 January with an indoor 1500 m in Spokane, running 3:42.81. The next month, on 26 February he ran 3:55.28 for the mile at Boston University, a personal best of 0.05 seconds.
Entering the 2023 outdoor season, CPT set his sights on achieving the Olympic 1500 m standard of 3:33.50 to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. On 10 June in Montesson, France, he came 0.04 seconds away from hitting this mark, running 3:33.54, still good for his first 1500 m personal best since 2015. On 18 June, once again in France, but this time in Tomblaine, he hit the Olympic standard, running 3:32.94, his second personal best in just 9 days. The next month at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland, he ran under the Olympic standard once again, finished 12th in 3:33.29. These performances also hit the world championships standard of 3:34.20 and qualified him for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Going into the 2023 Canadian Track and Field Championships CPT was the favourite, having run 2.5 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Reflecting this, he led most of the race and was able to successfully drop most of the field, with the exception of Kieran Lumb. As the two men rounded the final bend, Lumb was able to take the lead and win the race in a championship record of 3:37.24, while Charles finished close behind in 3:38.01.
In the first round of the World Championships, he placed 6th in his heat in 3:34.60, advancing him to the semi-finals. However just like on several occasions before, he was unable to advance to the finals after finishing 10th in his semi-final.
Despite it coming during the fall-season, typically reserved for base-training where top-endurance athletes are often not at their sharpest, Charles competed in the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, choosing to contest both the 1500 m and 5000 m. On 31 October he competed in the 5000 m. From the gun, the pace was slow through the first 10 minutes of the race, with Philibert-Thiboutot sitting in third place. With two laps to go the pace increased and he had to hold off athletes attempting to move around him. He ultimately closed the race in 54 seconds to finish as the third runner across the line. However, after the disqualification of Mexican Fernando Martínez, he claimed the silver medal behind American Kasey Knevelbaard.
Just a few days later, he contested his stronger event, the 1500 m. Boxed in with just 100 m to go, CPT was able to move past three athletes in the final sprint and at the finish line he dove moving past fellow Canadian Robert Heppenstall who had already raised his fist in celebration, thinking he had won gold. Ultimately, it was Philibert-Thiboutot who prevailed, taking gold in 3:39.74 and leading himself and Heppenstall to a 1-2 Canadian finish.[9]
CPT's final race of the calendar year came at the Canadian Cross Cross Country Championships on 25 November. He finished 7th over the 10 km course in Ottawa, earning the team title alongisde his training partners from the Club D'athlétisme de 'Université Laval.[10]
2024: Paris Olympics
Philibert-Thiboutot's 2024 season opener came on 26 January, contesting the mile at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic. After the pacer dropped off, he led most of the race and held a gap on the field with 200 metres to go. However on the back stretch, NAU sophomore Colin Sahlman started to reel him in and with 50 metres to go passed Philibert-Thiboutot. CPT held on to take second in 3:53.41, a personal best and under the World Indoor Championships qualifying standard of 3:53.50 for the mile.
The next week, he competed at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, running the 3000 m, aiming to break Kieran Lumb's Canadian indoor record of 7:38.39. He came close but ultimately finished in 7:41.12, still a personal best. In his third straight week of racing, he competed in the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games. Following the fast pace set out by the leading runners, CPT split 1:53.80 through halfway in 6th place, a pace that if held would've resulted in a 3:47.60 mile. However, his pace faded over the last half of the race, running 59.47 and 59.86 for the last two quarter miles, still finishing with a personal best of 3:53.12.
To cap of his 2024 indoor season, he competed in the 1500 m at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. He would run 3:40.18 to place 5th in his heat, not high enough to qualify for the final.
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