Kate Current, a 2024 1500m Olympian, has signed a contract with Nike ahead of the 2026 World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, FL.

Current was a collegiate champion in Canada, but exited with a 1500m personal best of just 4:17. Fast but not nearly elite.

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Yet, that did little to dissuade Current from chasing her dreams. 

By the end of 2022 - Current chased her personal best down to 4:12 - and by 2023 she got it down to 4:07 (at the world championships of all places).

In 2024, she made her second-straight global team, qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics and then in 2025 she continued her ascent. For the third-straight year she made a global squad for Team Canada. She also shaved her personal best down to 4:02.79 at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

And over those three years of racing at the professional level, she did so with limited financial support. She was coached by her university coach, primarily trained alone and started a remote career as an engineer to support her efforts.

Somehow, someway, she found the willpower to keep pushing herself.

"Sports have always been about seeing how far I can push myself, both physically and mentally," Current told FloTrack. "After university, continuing to chase this path often felt uncertain and at times it felt like I was reaching for something that might never fully materialize."

"It’s easy to get distracted by external markers like sponsorships, rankings, or team selections, especially when you’re not guaranteed any of them at any point. Those challenges are also what kept pulling me back. These markers forced me to grow and to bet on myself time and time again. I want to know how good I can be and I want to know how high I can climb on the world stage. The pursuit of growth and curiosity of my own limits has kept this dream alive." 

Even with funding from Nike, Current plans to continue working as an engineer. She explained that working part-time while training full-time is the perfect balance for her day-to-day.

This weekend, Current will head to Tallahassee to compete on her second World XC Relay. In 2023,  Team Canada and Current placed eighth. 

"In 2023 our relay team set out with the goal of top half in the field which seemed like a reasonable goal at the time," said Current. "This time around I’d love to see us crack the top five, which is going to be incredibly difficult given the depth of the teams. But, Team Canada is bringing a great team and I’m excited to show the world how gritty we are!"

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