Stone-launching athlete sets national record at Canmore Highland Games

CANMORE – Bagpipes were echoing in the distance as burly athletes in kilts launched heavy weights, stones, hammers and cabers in the air, while entertaining the crowd at the Canmore Highland Games.

The crowd erupted when Calgary’s Alexis Johnson broke a Canadian record in the women’s heavy weight for distance after she hurled a 28 lbs. weight 44 feet and nine inches on Sunday (Sept. 1).

But she wasn’t done yet.

With one more throw left, Johnson beat the record she just set with a distance of 45 feet and five inches, which was two feet and two inches more than the previous Canadian record set by Susie Lajoie in 2022.

Johnson received words of encouragement to beat the record from Canmore Heavy Games staple Jamie Clark, who was back in the running this year after being absent in 2023 when she set off to compete in the World Heavy Events Championship.

“She was like, ‘throw 45’ and I was like, ‘You’re crazy. You’re insane. That’s not going to happen,’” said Johnson. “But and then when I threw 44, which beat the record, I was like, ‘Huh, let me give her a bit more juice.’”

Before the record is officially in the books, MC Dave Roe said he will have to get the weight measured and certified.

Last year, Jonhson set her first Canadian record in the women’s light hammer throw when she launched a 12 lbs. hammer 103 feet and nine inches to beat the previous record by 6.5 inches.

Johnson rightfully took home the gold in the competition, with Clark in second followed by last year’s winner Siri Svenson in third.

Owen Ferguson, winner of the men’s category, praised Johnson for setting the record, especially considering it is only her second year competing.

“She’s gonna have a very bright future doing this and that’s pretty amazing,” said Ferguson. “I’ve seen her set records two years in a row now, so that's really impressive.”

Jonhson said she was happy to push her distances further across multiple events this year and is looking to competing in a national event in 2025. 

“I know that there’s still so much room for me to grow, which is also cool. I’m intrigued to see what next year looks like with getting good distances this year,” she said.

Ferguson quickly became a crowd favourite with people chanting his name as he got ready to push himself to the limits.

The strong athlete managed to win three out of seven events, tying one, in a field of four male athletes.

“I felt really strong today,” said Ferguson. “There were some events that I thought I really excelled at and others that I struggled with, but that’s kind of the nature of the game.”

Ferguson was especially proud of his personal record in the open stone event when he threw the 20lb stone 41 feet and 6.5 inches.

“I’ve been chasing the 40 for a long time, [and] to sort of throw a foot farther than 40 feet was huge,” he said.

Dylan Cameron, who was the only competitor to flip a perfect 12 o’clock caber, took second in the men’s category, followed by Nathan Lefsrud in third and Brad Aldridge for fourth. Cameron won the event last year in the open men’s class.

Roe commended the kilted warriors for achieving multiple personal bests, as the rudimentary sport is unlike any other.

“You try and compare it to track and field, but it’s not the same,” said Roe. “You’re dealing with stones; you’re dealing with rudimentary gear, so every time everybody makes a personal best, it’s a feat.

“That’s what we’re here to do, is celebrate the athletes, celebrate the events, celebrate the culture.”