Brown, Rodney sprint to Olympic men's 200m semifinal, joining defending champ De Grasse
Pair shine in repechage at Stade de France; Canadian hurdler races with broken hand
Andre De Grasse will have some Canadian company in the Olympic men's 200-metre semifinals as relay teammates Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney earned their spots on Tuesday at Paris 2024.
The latter won his repechage heat Tuesday in 20.42 seconds to automatically advance while Brown had to wait for the result of the fourth and final heat to learn his fate.
Brown also ran 20.42 and had the fastest time among those who hadn't automatically qualified. Minutes later, he secured his semifinal spot as none of the six athletes in the fourth heat beat his time.
Wednesday's semifinal is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. ET at Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
"It's a tough race. Yesterday was a lot easier than today [because] of the added pressure of having to win," Rodney said of Monday's opening round when he ran a season-best 20.30, 1-100th of a second behind Filippo Tortu of Italy for the third and final automatic qualifying spot in his heat. "I'll have to be a lot better [in the semifinal]."
Rodney, 32, clinched a spot in his first-ever individual Olympic semifinal, holding off Jamaica's Bryan Levell (20.47) at the finish line.
WATCH | Rodney holds on to take repechage heat in 20.42 seconds:
Brown, like Rodney, was fourth in his Round 1 heat, only 16-100ths behind South Africa's Shaun Maswanganyi, who grabbed the final automatic qualifying spot for the semifinal.
"I'm trying to get over the hump and get things rolling but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe it can happen tomorrow. I'm in good shape," Brown said in a post-race race interview with CBC Sports' Devin Heroux.
On Saturday, Brown failed to advance from the opening round of the 100 after getting disqualified for a false start.
"I've always said overcoming adversity is my theme, and it's being challenged to the limit [in Paris] I'll tell you that," the Toronto native said. "This one's tough but I'm a warrior so I'll keep fighting."
The 32-year-old Brown, who was sixth in the 2021 Olympic final in Tokyo, likes his chances in Wednesday's semifinal.
"I did pretty good on the [bend in the repechage] but I felt [over the final 100 metres] down the stretch I didn't execute the way I wanted," he said. "If I can put together a complete race and just be me, I'll be in good shape."
WATCH | Brown loses repechage heat but advances to 200m semifinal:
Stafford relegated to repechage in 1,500m
Lucia Stafford, competing at her second Olympics, opened competition for Canada on Tuesday with a season best of four minutes 2.22 seconds in Round 1 of the women's 1,500 metres.
The Toronto native will need to go through the repechage round Wednesday at 6:45 a.m. ET for a chance to qualify for Thursday's semifinal at Stade de France.
"I gave it my best and I can't be disappointed. I really wish it was a PB [personal best of 4:02.03 or faster] at least," the University of Toronto alumna told Heroux.
In June, she won a third straight Canadian title at Olympic trials in Montreal by two seconds ahead of Kate Current of London Western Track & Field Club who ran 4:09.81 Tuesday and is also headed to the repechage.
Montreal's Simone Plourde clocked 4:06.59 in her heat.
The 25-year-old Stafford said she'll run that race like any other.
"I'm going to … put myself in [the mix to advance to semis] and fight to win," said the Toronto native. "You can guarantee I'm going to run a 4:02 now. I'd love a frickin' 3:58."
On July 12, Stafford set the women's Canadian record in the 2,000 at 5:31.18. Angela Chalmers held the previous best of 5:34.49 since Sept. 4, 1994.
WATCH l Stafford sets Canadian 2,000m record in Diamond League debut:
'I kind of let that one slip,' says hurdler Thorne
In the men's 110 hurdles repechage, Craig Thorne of Quispamsis, N.B., was fifth in his heat in 13.62 seconds and will not be part of Thursday's semifinal.
Only the top two advance from each heat and from Thorne's group that was American Freddie Crittenden (13.42) and Spain's Asier Martinez (13.46).
Thorne, who was hampered by a broken bone in his hand throughout his first Olympic competition, was spotted shaking his head after the finish times were posted on the stadium scoreboard.
"I felt really good today, thought I had it and I kind of let that one slip," said Thorne, who clocked 13.60 in Round 1 on Sunday. "It's frustrating but it's a part of the game, you have to learn from it and move on."
The 23-year-old told Heroux he broke his hand last Friday when one of his knuckles met a hurdle during training.
"You need to move on and try to forget about it but it's hard to move that out of your head," he said. "I think I could have ran a bit faster today.
"I'm proud of myself. My confidence was high [despite] the injury. This stadium, the crowd [and] just being here is so special. I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Women's sprinters out of medal contention
The women's 400 semifinal will not include Canada's Lauren Gale and Zoe Sherar, who failed to crack the top six overall in the repechage heats.
Gale looked solid in her race before fading over the final 100 metres down the straightaway, crossing the line in 52.68 seconds, over two seconds shy of her 50.47 PB.
"She looked good in the first 200 and then hit a wall. Her final 200 metres was torturous for her," CBC Sports analyst Dave Moorcroft said during the broadcast.
Gale, who clocked 53.13 in Round 1 on Monday, had a breakout season on the track breakout season on the track and had gone 51.79 on July 12 in a pre-Olympic race in Memphis, Tenn.
Sherar, who hails from Toronto, posted a time of 51.43 on Tuesday. She lowered her PB four times this year, most recently to 50.79 at the Royal City Inferno meet in Guelph, Ont., in early June.
Sherar, who plans to open Round 1 of the women's 4x400 relay on Friday, said she and 10-15 people associated with Canada's athletics team, including coaches, are recovering from a stomach virus.
"It's definitely created some hurdles," Sherar said of the illness, "but it's a good time to practice resilience and play with the cards you've been dealt. Each day's getting better and that's a positive sign, for sure."
Morales Williams falls short
Christopher Morales Williams fell short of qualifying for the Olympic men's 400m final.
The Vaughan, Ont., athlete crossed the finish line in 45.25 seconds to finish eighth in the third semifinal heat on Tuesday night at Stade de France.
Entering the Olympics, Morales Williams had the third-leading time in the world, which at one point was the world-leading time, at 44.05 seconds from the Southeastern Conference outdoor championships in May.
Morales Williams turned pro after finishing his sophomore year at the University of Georgia having won the indoor and outdoor NCAA national championships this season. He set the all-time best indoor mark with 44.49 seconds at the SEC indoor championships in February.
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With files from The Canadian Press
