| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Born | 11 March 2003 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Middle-distance running |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 400 m: 47.04 (Eugene, 2025) 800 m: 1:44.49 (Los Angeles, 2025) 1500 m: 3:40.54 (Eugene, 2025) Mile: 3:59.27 (Boston, 2024) |
Matthew Erickson (born 11 March 2003) is a Canadian middle-distance runner. He won the 800 metres at the 2025 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and was later runner-up at that distance at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships. [1]
He is from Nelson, British Columbia and was educated at Hume Elementary School. He showed aptitude for athletics at an early age, winning the 10-year-old boys 60 m dash, 600 m run, 1,000 m run and long jump at the BC Elementary Track and Field Championships in 2013. He later attended the University of Oregon in the United States. [2] [3]
In 2024, Erickson ran a personal best of 1:45.74 at the Portland Track Festival, placing him in the top-10 among Canadian men over 800 metres all-time. He followed this by finishing third at the Canadian Olympic Trials. In October of that year, he became the first Canadian track athlete to sign a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal with U.S. sportswear brand Nike. He won the 800 metres at the 2025 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach in March 2025 competing for the University of Oregon. [4] [5]
In May 2025, he set a personal best for the 300 metres of 47.04 seconds at the Oregon Twilight Meet. [6] He finished second behind Sam Whitmarsh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon in the 800 metres in June 2025, running a seasons best time of 1:46.32, despite having fallen to seventh place at the final turn. [7] [8] He ran a personal best for the 800 metres at the Sunset Tour Los Angeles on 12 July 2025, with a time of 1:44.49. [9]
Erickson competed at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in the 800 metres and 1500 metres, in Cali, Colombia in August 2022. [10] [11]
He was named in the Canadian team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. [12]
| Year | Competition | Event | Time | Place | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | World U20 Championships | 800 m | 1:52.38 | 21st | |
| 2022 | World U20 Championships | 800 m | 1:48.42 | 9th | |
| 1500 m | 3:55.16 | 32nd |
Erickson shares highlights of the 2024-25 season, learning to race by focusing on aerobic strength, and his life story on "Talking in Ovals" show. [13]