Gatineau runner earns fourth Aléo scholarship while chasing 2026 podium

Tashi Farmilo

Zakary Mama-Yari came to the 800 metres late, by the standards of elite athletics. The Gatineau native spent 12 years playing soccer and ran his first cross-country race at age seven before track and field gradually won out. By high school, the choice was made. Now 27 and ranked among the top 200 middle-distance runners in the world, he has been named a recipient of the 2026 TREK Scholarship at a ceremony in Montreal on April 23.

The $4,000 award is his fourth from the Aléo Foundation, a detail that speaks to the consistency of both his athletic career and his academic one. Mama-Yari is currently completing a master's degree in mechanical engineering at ETS Montreal, having previously studied industrial engineering at Polytechnique Montréal.

On the track, he holds a personal best of 1:45.93 in the 800 metres, set in June 2024. At that year's Canadian Olympic Trials, he finished second behind world champion Marco Arop, and he has also won bronze at the 2022 Canada Games, claimed a national title, and represented Canada at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago. For 2026, he has set his sights on the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Championships, and a podium finish at the Canadian Championships.

The scholarship was one of 12 awarded this spring, totalling $60,000, following the annual TREK Gala held last fall in Montreal. The evening was themed around Italy in anticipation of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games.