Olympians Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake are scheduled to compete in the men's 200 metres finals on Sunday, bringing an end to the Canadian Track and Field Championship in Langley, B.C. Brown, from left to right, Blake, Brendon Rodney and De Grasse pose with their Tokyo Olympics silver medals after being awarded the upgraded medals during a ceremony at the Canadian track and field championships, in Langley, B.C., on Saturday, July 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
LANGLEY, B.C. – Olympians Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney were all scheduled to race the men’s 200-metre final to bring the Canadian track and field championship to a close.
De Grasse – a six-time Olympic medallist and the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 – was fastest in Sunday’s preliminary round with a time of 20.31, ahead of Blake, Brown and Brendan Rodney second to fourth respectively.
The four men received Olympic relay silver medals Saturday from Tokyo’s Summer Games, which were delayed from 2020 to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They were upgraded from bronze to silver after the disqualification of Britain due to a doping violation.
De Grasse’s qualification for the 200-metre final comes after he didn’t advance to Friday’s 100-metre final.
He’s twice won an Olympic bronze medal in the 100.
His relay teammates brushed aside De Grasse’s performance, saying they were confident he would find his rhythm.
Brown said he was confident that De Grasse would bounce back as “he’s a champion.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2023.
