Aaron Brown sprints to 200-metre victory ahead of Diamond League season opener

Aaron Brown’s large grin after sprinting throughout the end line stated all of it for the three-time Canadian Olympian.

He turned a lightning-quick begin within the males’s 200 metres right into a wind-assisted successful time of 20.05 seconds on Saturday in Nairobi, Kenya, Brown’s fastest-ever season-opening end within the outside occasion.

The Toronto native clocked 20.19 to open his 2014 outside marketing campaign on the Gainesville Florida Relay and 5 years later went 20.20 on the Diamond League season opener in Doha, Qatar.

Final season, the Florida resident did not run beneath 20.05 till the Aug. 3 semifinals on the Tokyo Olympics, the place he stopped the clock in 19.99 on the best way to a sixth-place end within the ultimate (20.20).

WATCH | Brown wins his 200-metre season opener in 20.05 seconds:

Aaron Brown closes robust to win 200m in Nairobi

The Canadian sprinter edged American Kyree King to take high spot on the World Athletics Continental Tour cease in Kenya.

The three-time defending Canadian champion outlasted Kyree King (20.18) of the US down the straightaway on the Kip Keino Basic on Saturday, whereas Isaac Makwala of Botswana was third of seven finishers on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold occasion.

Kenya’s Mike Mokamba was disqualified for a false begin in Kasarani.

Trio of 200m wins in 2021

In 4 competitions post-Summer season Video games, Brown’s quickest efficiency was 20.12 on the Diamond League’s Prefontaine Basic in Eugene, Ore.

The 29-year-old received three 200s in 2021, at Canadian Olympic trials and his warmth and semifinal races in Tokyo.

This summer time, Brown will look to decrease his 20.10 clocking from the 2019 world championships when this 12 months’s occasion is held within the U.S. for the primary time in July at Hayward Subject in Eugene.

On Could 13, he’ll take the road in a stacked 200 on the Diamond League opener in Doha, the place he can be joined by fellow Canadians Andre De Grasse and Jerome Blake.

WATCH | World Athletics Nairobi full-event replay:

World Athletics Continental Tour: Nairobi

A number of the world’s greatest observe and area athletes compete for the rostrum in Kenya.

It’s going to mark the season opener within the 200 for De Grasse, the reigning Olympic champion on the distance after he posted a 19.62 private greatest in Tokyo. Blake, 26, posted a 20.04 PB in his 200 opener on April 16 on the USATF Golden Video games in Walnut, Calif.

The Doha race, which can be lived streamed at CBCSports.ca at 1:12 p.m. ET, can even function two elite American sprinters, 2020 Olympic bronze medallist and 2019 world champion Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley, who received Olympic silver final summer time.

1st race since transfer to Victoria

In different observe and area motion, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford received the ladies’s 1,500 on the Sound Operating Observe Meet on Friday night time in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

The 26-year-old from Toronto crossed the end line in 4 minutes 3.20 seconds, operating beneath the 4:04.20 world championship commonplace in her first race since leaving the Bowerman Observe Membership in Portland, Ore., final month to prepare with Trent and Hilary Stellingwerff in Victoria.

In February, DeBues-Stafford shattered the Canadian girls’s mark by over 12 seconds within the indoor 3,000 and 5 days later set the North American document within the 5,000 at Boston College.

She’s going to run the 1,500 on the Prefontaine Basic on Could 28 earlier than heading to Europe for a few races.

On the identical Friday meet, Quebec Metropolis’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot achieved the world commonplace within the 5,000, clocking 13:12.76, or shaving practically 10 seconds off his earlier greatest of 13:22.44 from Dec. 4, 2020, additionally in San Juan Capistrano.

The 31-year-old has additionally certified within the 1,500 for the July 15-24 worlds, having run beneath the three:35 commonplace with a 3:34.43 effort final July 25 in Azusa, Calif. His 2022 indoor season was reduce quick in early January when he suffered a torn left soleus, a muscle at the back of the leg that runs from just under the knee to the heel.

However a completely healed Philibert-Thiboutot, the reigning nationwide 1,500 outside champion, stopped the clock in 13:35 at a 5K in Boston on April 16, breaking Paul Williams’ Canadian mark of 13:36 set in 1986.

For extra tales concerning the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success tales throughout the Black group — take a look at Being Black in Canada, a CBC challenge Black Canadians will be happy with. You can read more stories here.