Sprinter De Grasse misses cut for 100m final at nationals, fails to meet world standard
Nick Wells | The Canadian Press | Posted: July 29, 2023 2:01 AM | Last Updated: July 29, 2023
Bingham wins 2nd straight women's 100 title, Rogers sets hammer throw mark in B.C.
Aaron Brown won his fifth straight men's 100-metre national title with a time of 10.08 seconds at the Canadian track and field championships on Friday in Langley, B.C.
Brendon Rodney finished second in the event (10.12), closely followed by fellow Olympians Bismark Boateng (10.17) and Jerome Blake (10.19).
"I've had championships go down to the wire and I was used to it and it was the moment I lived for," Brown said, standing next to his two-year-old son, Kingsley.
WATCH | Brown wins men's 100m Canadian title:
Six-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse failed to qualify for the men's 100 final.
De Grasse finished ninth among the semifinalists in 10.21. The reigning Olympic men's 200 champion and 100 bronze medallist is among the Canadian athletes who haven't met the automatic qualifying standard in their events for the Aug. 19-27 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
WATCH | De Grasse fails to reach 100m qualifying standard for worlds:
De Grasse ranks 103rd in the world in the 100 and also wouldn't secure a spot for the competition through the world rankings system as World Athletics targets 48 athletes from the event.
The 28-year-old from Markham, Ont. ranks 14th in the 200 ahead of Sunday's race in Langley when the qualifying window closes. World Athletics will also take 48 athletes from this event for Budapest.
"His season is his season and mine is mine," said Brown, who will attempt a fifth consecutive sweep in the sprint double at nationals. "I know he'll bounce back. He's a champion."
De Grasse, Brown, Blake and Rodney will get their upgraded Tokyo Olympic silver medals Saturday in Langley.
"It sets a perfect story for us to get gold at the next Olympics," Brown said.
The group had initially earned bronze in the men's 4x100 relay two years ago but an official upgrade came in May 2022 following the disqualification of the British team due to a doping violation by team member CJ Ujah.
The Canadian squad is also preparing to defend its world title.
"We won gold last year, why aim lower?" Brown said.
Elsewhere, Damian Warner, the reigning Olympic champion in the decathlon, failed to qualify for the men's 400 after missing the cut in the preliminary round.
He competed earlier in the discus, placing sixth, and will take part in the hurdles on Saturday.
Khamica Bingham won the women's 100 final in 11.25.
WATCH | Bingham wins 2nd straight national title in women's 100m:
Rogers eyes 80-metre hammer throw
Richmond, B.C., native Camryn Rogers won the women's hammer throw event setting a Canadian championship record with a throw of 77.43 metres.
"After this, I'm even more excited — if that's possible — than before for worlds," she said.
Rogers — who won silver at the 2022 world championships and whose personal best is 78.62 — said she is now aiming for the 80 mark.
"We have a lot of energy, we have a lot of really good things happening in the throws right now and it's about putting it together," Rogers said.
"Chase the 80-metre line. Get as close as we can or even over it."
Nicole Ostertag won the women's heptathlon with 6019 points, edging out Georgia Ellenwood of Langley by 18.
"It's been a tough couple of days. I was lucky to have Georgia to compete against," Ostertag said.
"Competing against Georgia was an amazing experience. She had a lot of people rooting for her here and I wanted to use that as fuel for myself."