Jean-Simon Desgagnés (born 26 July 1998) is a Canadian track and field athlete who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has represented Canada at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and won gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games. He represented Canada at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Running career
2017 Desgagnés made his international debut for Canada competing in the U20 race at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda. He placed 65th.
In June, he ran a 3000 metres steeplechase personal best of 8:49.83 at the Portland Track Festival. The following month he won the Canadian U20 in the steeple and took gold at the Pan American U20 Championships in the same event. He capped off his season with a first-place finish at the 2017 Canada Summer Games.
2018 In March 2018, Jean-Simon competed at his first USPORTS Track and Field Championships representing the Laval Rouge et Or. Contesting the 1500 m and 3000 m, he placed 7th in 3:58.03 and 9th in 8:32.03.
In June, he improved his 3000 m steeplechase personal best by 10 seconds, running 8:39.03 in Portland, Oregon. On July 1, he placed second at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa.
2019 Following a double gold performance 1500 m and 3000 m at the RSEQ Championships in February, he headed to the 2019 USPORTS Championships in Winnipeg. Desgagnés would finish runner-up in both the 1500 m on March 9 and 3000 m on March 8, losing to Western's Jack Sheffar in both events. He also anchored Laval's 4 x 800 m relay team, placing 13th.
Outdoors, he once again improved he steeplechase by another 10 seconds, running 8:29.10 at the Stanford Invitational. In July, he won a bronze medal in the steeplechase at the 2019 Summer Universade and placed fourth at the Canadian Championships in Montreal.
2020 At the 2020 RSEQ Championships, Desgagnés defended his 1500 m and 3000 m conference titles. At the USPORTS Championships in Edmonton, he once again finished runner-up in the 1500 m, but claimed his first USPORTS individual titles, winning gold in the 3000 m in 8:13.97.
In August, Desgagnés set a 5 km road personal best of 13:59 in Quebec City, missing the Quebec provincial record by just 3 seconds.
2021 On May 21, 2021, Jean-Simon opened his season with a 8:29.41 steeple PB to win the Trials of Miles in New York City. The following week, he ran a personal best of 8:24.40 in Portland.
2022 In January 2022, JSD broke 4-minutes in the mile for the first time, running 3:58.60 at Boston University. At the USPORTS Championships in March, he won the 1500 m title, he also contested the 1000 m, placing seventh and the 3000 m, placing second
Outdoors, Desgagnés opened his season with a steeplechase personal best of 8:22.95 in New York City. At the Canadian Championships in Langley, British Columbia, he placed third behind John Gay and Ryan Smeeton. Alongside Gay and Smeeton, he was selected to represent Canada at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In his world championship debut, he placed 12th in his heat, missing the final.
Competing at the 2022 NACAC Championships, Desgagnés took a bronze medal in the steeplechase in 8:33.25, behind Evan Jager and Duncan Hamilton, both of the United States.
2023 He set a new personal best 3000 m steeplechase time of 8:20.68 in May 2023, at the Sound Running Track Festival in Walnut, California.
In July, he improved his steeple PB further with a mark of 8:17.40 in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. That month he also won his first senior national championship, in the 3000m steeplechase in Langley, British Columbia. He competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023, where he qualified for the final. In the final he finished eighth in a personal best time of 8:15.58.
In November, Jean-Simon competed at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. Despite falling on the last water jump, he had enough of a lead to take gold in 8:30.14, beating the second-place finisher, American athlete Daniel Michalski, by over 6 seconds.
2024 In February, Jean-Simon ran a 3000 m personal best of 7:47.39 in Boston. Later that month, he captured both the RSEQ 1500 m and 3000 m titles. Competing in his final USPORTS Championships representing Laval, Desgagnés contested both the 1500 m and 3000 m. With 400 m to go, Desgagnés led, followed by Matthew Beaudet of McGill, however with a final 400 m of under just under 60 seconds, Desgagnés held on to take the win in 7:59.72. In the 1500 m, he placed second, just 0.76 seconds behind Max Davies of Guelph.
At the 2024 Meeting de Paris, he ran 8:13.11 to move to fifth on the Canadian all-time list for the 3000 metres steeplechase. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the 3000 metres steeplechase, placing 13th in the final.
2025 He won the 2025 Canadian Athletics Championships over 3000 metres steeplechase in 8:29.82 on 31 July 2025 in Ottawa, finishing ahead of Aaron Ahl. He was named in the Canadian team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. He was advanced to the final of the 3000 metres steeplechase after being involved in a fall during his heat involving New Zealand athlete Geordie Beamish. A photograph of his foot appearing to step on Beamish's face, taken by Getty Sport photographer Emilee Chinn, was nominated for the World Athletics Photo of the Year award. He ultimately finished thirteenth in the World Championship final on 15 September 2025, with Beamish winning the gold medal.
2026 In January 2026, he finished ninth with the Canadian mixed 4x2 km relay team at the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, competing alongside Foster Malleck, Kate Current and Regan Yee. In June, he ran 8:50.71 to win the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2026 Canadian Championships. He placed fifth competing in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Personal life Desgagnés was born in Quebec City and raised in the nearby town of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges. He is currently in medical school at Université Laval and pursuing an MA in immunology. A French-language documentary, Comme Pas Deux, from film producer Marc-Alexandre Dulude of Galerie Studios, charting Desgagnés as he combined his studies with preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games was released in December 2025.
Competition record +Representing YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime2017World Cross Country ChampionshipsKampala, Uganda65thU20 race26:42Pan American U20 ChampionshipsTrujillo, Peru1st3000 m steeplechase8:56.572019UniversadeNaples, Italy3rd3000 m steeplechase8:36.202022World ChampionshipsEugene, Oregon36th (h)3000 m steeplechase8:40.902023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary8th3000 m steeplechase8:15.58Pan American GamesSantiago, Chile1st3000 m steeplechase8:30.142024Olympic GamesParis, France13th3000 m steeplechase8:19.312026Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom5th3000 m steeplechase8:25.43
References
External links
Jean-Simon Desgagnés at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics