Malindi Elmore (118), from Kelowna, B.C. leads Carmen Douma-Hussar (2), from Guelph, Ont. and Katie Vermeulen, from Victoria, B.C. to win the womens 1500m final at the Canadian track and field trials in Victoria on Sunday. (CP PHOTO/Ryan Remiorz)

VICTORIA (CP) -- A return to her roots has propelled Malindi Elmore to Athens.

Elmore, who moved to Calgary this season to train with high school coaches Mike and Brenda Van Tighem, won the women's 1,500 metres on the third and final day of the Canadian Olympic track and field trials Sunday, clinching her spot on the team for Athens.

"It's a relief because Athens is where I've had my hopes set all year, so going into this race at the very least I had to be top-four, and I knew I could do that," said Elmore, 24. "But definitely I was going after the win, because I've never won a national title before, it's been elusive in the past."

Elmore, a native of Kelowna, B.C., battled windy conditions at Centennial Stadium to win the 1,500 in a meet record time of four minutes 4.51 seconds, edging Carmen Douma-Hussar, from Cambridge, Ont., who crossed in 4:05.22.

Both had achieved the Olympic qualifying standard and needed just to finish in the top four Sunday.

Gary Reed of Victoria and Achraf Tadili of Saint Laurent, Que., also guaranteed their spots for Athens in the men's 800 metres while Tim Berrett of Edmonton secured his ticket with a win in the 20-kilometre race walk.

After her senior year last season at Stanford University, Elmore moved to Calgary to train. She is doing a Master degree in environmental design at the University of Calgary and lives in the Van Tighem's basement.

The plan has proven a huge success. Elmore posted a time of 4:02.64 in Rome earlier this month that has her ranked fifth in the world.

Elmore was inspired after seeing Canadian veteran Leah Pells's performance in Atlanta.

"She has been a great role model in this sport and watching her finish fourth at the Olympics in '96 was kind of when I realized how achievable these things are, but I was still of course very impressed," said Elmore.

She has big dreams for Athens.

"The Canadian record is 4:00.27 (set in 1985 by Lynn Williams), and I think that running the Canadian record in the Olympic final would be the ultimate dream so that's what we're going to gear the next six weeks to," said Elmore.

Twenty-two athletes are expected to be named to the Canadian Olympic track team Monday, including high jumper Mark Boswell of Brampton, Ont., who didn't make his Olympic B standard Saturday but is expected to make the team on an injury appeal.

Courtney Babcock of Chatham, Ont., is also appealing, based on a foot injury. Babcock was eighth in Canadian-record pace in the 5,000 at last summer's world championship in Paris, but didn't also didn't meet the fitness standard in Friday's race.

The Canadian track team in Sydney numbered 42, and if there's been a theme to these track trials, it has been about the gruelling standards set by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Athletics Canada.

The aim was to send a small, but talented team to Athens.

"I'm feeling good about the team," said Athletics Canada head coach Alex Gardiner. "The entire bar has been raised, and it has been raised by how you have to make the team, but I think it's been raised by the attitude and the spirit from the Commonwealth Games and (world championships in) Paris."

Reed, from Victoria, raced to a meet-record time of 1:45.34 in the men's 800. Canadian record holder Achraf Tadili of St. Laurent, Que., was second in 1:45.76. Both had already met the qualifying standard.

"I ran my heart out out there, I gave it everything I had," said Reed, gasping for breath. "I really wanted this, I trained so hard for this year and I wanted to win here so bad."

Reed, 22, said once he gets to Athens, anything is possible.

"It's just going to be magical," said Reed. "In a good race right now, I think I can go 1:44. "Anything's possible. I'm going to put no limitations on myself."

Berrett secured his ticket to Athens with a gold in the men's race walk in one hour 26 minutes 6.61 seconds.

Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., won the men's 200, edging Pierre Browne of Toronto. Both finished in 20.67 seconds, with Henry getting the gold on the photo finish.

Neither made the 200 standard for Athens, although both are part of the Olympic 4x100-metre relay pool. Henry said, despite the squabbling that always seems to plague Canada's sprint relay teams, he has lofty goals for the team there.

"Something really special could happen," he said. "Hopefully we can all gel together."

No surprise, there was some trash talking between Browne and Nicholas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que., after Saturday's 100-metre final. It could've been a holdover from the sniping at last year's world championships, when Macrozonaris was left off the relay after he complained about not running the anchor leg.

"We're all grown ups, men's egos can get in the way sometimes," said Henry. "But we're all trying to move forward, we're all trying to do well, and we know to do that, we all have to come together, so we've all tried to put that behind us."

Four athletes fell short of their Olympic dreams Sunday.

Andrew Ellerton of Sudbury, Ont., and Nate Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., who set a blistering first-lap pace in the 800 in the hopes of making the standard, faded in the final straightaway to take third and fourth respectively. Brannen had red-shirted this past season at the University of Michigan to focus on Athens.

Jessica Zelinka of Calgary won the women's heptathlon with 5,890 points. Zelinka made the Olympic qualifying standard at a meet in Europe earlier this season, but the result didn't stand because the 200 metres was wind-aided.

"I don't know if it was just the mental game because I felt the extra bit of stress, anxiety coming into the meet because I really wanted to do it," said Zelinka.

And Katie Vermeulen of Victoria was third in the women's 1,500 in 4:06.92, just off the Canadian qualifying standard of 4:05.80 she needed.

"It's part of sport, right? I'm just happy I gave a good effort, and did what I could," said Vermeulen, who was on pace to make the standard at a recent race in Lille, France, but fell with 20 metres to go.

In other events, Lami Oyewumi of Toronto won the women's 200 in 23.31. Adam Kunkel of Paisley, Ont., won the men's 400 hurdles in 50.22 seconds, while Tawa Babatunde of Edmonton claimed the women's event in 56.88.

Alberta's Haley Digel won the women's 3,000-metre steeplechase in 11 minutes 22.75 seconds. Marina Crivello of Montreal won the women's 20-kilometre race walk in one hour 48 minutes 48.06 seconds.

In field events, Julie Bourgon of Longueuil, Que., won the women's discus with a toss of 52.54 metres, while Wanita May of St. Catharines, Ont., won the women's high jump, clearing 1.86 metres.