Brown makes up for 200 disappointment in relay
Canada captures gold medal in highlight event on final day of NACAC Championships
TORONTO — When Canada’s Aaron Brown took the baton a step behind Jaquone Hoyte of Barbados on Sunday and set his sights on the finish line, one thought went through his mind.
“I was thinking I’m not going to lose twice. I’m going to get this guy if it kills me,” Brown said laughing.
The 26-year-old from Toronto anchored Canada to a victory in the men’s 4x100 metre relay, the highlight on the final day of the NACAC Championships. The victory came an hour after Brown tied up over the final few metres of the 200, losing to Kyle Greux of Trinidad and Tobago.
Bismark Boateng, Jerome Blake, Mobolade Ajomale and Brown, who powered past Hoyte over the final 40 metres, won relay gold in 38.56 seconds, delighting the crowd at the University of Toronto’s sun-drenched VarsityStadium.
Barbados was second in 38.69.
With three-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse sidelined with a hamstring injury, Brown was Canada’s headliner in the men’s sprints, and a favourite to win gold in the 200 after dipping below the 20-second barrier for the first time earlier this season. But Greux pulled ahead of the Canadian over the final 20 metres to win in 20.11. Brown clocked 20.20 for the silver.
Brown, who joined De Grasse as the only Canadians in history to run sub-10 seconds in the 100 metres and sub-20 seconds in the 200, said it was tough shrugging off the 200 loss in the short time before the relay. But a pep talk from Canadian head coach Glenroy Gilbert helped.
Crystal Emmanuel of Toronto raced to silver in the women’s 200 in a season-best 22.67. Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson won gold in 22.64.
“I would have wanted a (personal best), but I can only do what my body tells me to do, and I came out with a season best so I’m happy,” said Emmanuel. Emmanuel also had a quick turnaround. She ran the second leg on Canada’s women’s 4x100 relay with Shaina Harrison, Phylicia George and Jellisa Westney that won bronze an hour later.
In other events Sunday, 2015 world champion Shawn Barber cleared 5.40 metres to finish second in a three-man pole vault contest.
After a rocky couple of seasons that saw him finish 10th at the Rio Olympics and eighth at last summer’s world championships, Barber is finally enjoying a bit of consistency. He won silver at the Commonwealth Games in March and jumped a season’s best 5.92 metres that same month — just shy of his Canadian record of 5.93 he set in 2015.
American Cole Houston took pole vault gold with 5.45. A bronze medal wasn’t awarded after Cole Walsh of the U.S. failed to clear his opening height.
Small fields were a problem for the three-day event, with some races and field events having only three or four entries. The Central America and Caribbean Games that ended less than two weeks ago was one reason for the small numbers. The qualification standards were also IAAF “A” standards — as tough as the world championship and Olympic marks.