Brown repeats as Canada’s fastest man
MONTREAL It takes time to become Canada’s fastest man — about 10 seconds on the day, but years to build toward.
Sometimes you toil in obscurity, because that’s the nature of track and field in this country. Or maybe you’re just the other guy.
Aaron Brown was the other guy. Even as the defending Canadian champ at both 100 and 200 metres coming into this edition of the Canadian Track and Field Championships, Brown was still the other guy.
That’s because Andre De Grasse is the man with the Olympic medals from Rio and the iconic finish line picture with Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt. Cheesy grin. You remember it.
De Grasse was injured last year but healthy and ready this time. And he’s, well, De Grasse, and there is something intriguing about the kid.
But Canada’s fastest man has to be fastest on the day. And Brown was fastest on Friday. Not much faster, mind you. In a photo finish he was through the line at 10.021 seconds, De Grasse an eyeblink later at 10.024.
The race was way too close to call, and the competitors hung around the finish area awaiting the photo results.
“That was a hell of a race,” said Brown. “I had no idea who won. I’m so happy.”
The excitement started building earlier in the evening. After three false starts and two disqualifications in his heat, De Grasse stopped the clock in a season-best 9.98 seconds and the massive crowd at Complex Sportif Claude Robillard erupted.
But that was just the warm-up act. In the third and final heat, Brown stunned that capacity crowd with a blazing personal best of 9.96, taking advantage of a legal 1.7-metre/second tailwind. De Grasse had a 1.1 wind behind him in his heat.
Brown was the defending champ in the 100 and he’s a good bet to defend his 200-metre crown, since De Grasse won’t be doing the double at this meet. Brown was clearly ready for this showdown.
“I knew coming into nationals it was going to be a really big competition. The landscape is real strong because of this guy right here,” Brown said during a pre-meet media session, referring to De Grasse. “I have to be on my A game and know that I have to be ready to defend my titles with fast times. I’ve been preparing all year for this.”
The Canadian duo are mainstays on the Diamond League circuit and have performed well.
De Grasse ran 9.99 on July 20, while Brown got his personal best down to 10.07 on July 5, before beating it on Friday. They’re both top 10 in the world this season in the 200, De Grasse at 19.91 and Brown at 19.95.
The fastest woman in Canada is, as expected Crystal Emmanuel. She ran 11.17 seconds to beat Leya Buchanan.