MONTREAL, Canada — Aaron Brown captured the sprint double for the second successive year at the 2019 Canadian track and field championships this past weekend to this book his spot to the Doha World Championships later this year.
Brown first edged Olympic bronze medallist Andre De Grasse in a showdown over the 100 meters, which required a photo finish to decide the winner.
At the end of it, the 27-year-old was given the victory after both runners were timed at 10.03 seconds and only three one/thousandths of a second separating the two.
Earlier in the day, both sprinters went under 10 seconds in the semi-finals — Brown running a personal best of 9.96 secs and De Grasse running a seasonal best of 9.98.
Bismark Boateng was third in the final in 10.25, which is below the 10.10 seconds IAAF World Championships standard.
Much Easier For Brown Over 200m
There was less drama in the 200m with Brown, who was by far the class of the field, and he showed his rank by posting 20.03 seconds to blow away Brendon Rodney, who ran 20.50 and Jerome Blake 20.57.
“Mission complete,” Brown said after doing the double Sunday. “I set out at the beginning of the season to get two golds and to come away with it feels great.”
De Grasse, the national record holder in this event with 19.80, opted to skip the double to concentrate on just the 100m at the world championships.
The two met in the Lausanne Diamond League meet earlier this month and De Grasse ran 19.92 to Brown’s 19.95 personal best to come out on top in their head-to-head battle.
They finished third and fourth overall behind American Noah Lyles.
Brown admitted to working harder for the 100m at the Canada trials, as he knew De Grasse was never going to run the half-lap.
“It would be disingenuous to say I didn’t put more focus on the 100 because I knew a guy like Andre was in it and not in the 200,” he added.
“So the big one was out of the way. I had a lot of good momentum. I had a good feeling about my chances going into the (200).
“I just didn’t want to sleep on anybody in the field and get caught sleeping, taking for granted that I already won.”
Crystal Emmanuel Dominates Again
Meanwhile, Crystal Emmanuel continued to dominate on the women’s side after she successfully defended her 100m title with a blazing 11.17 seconds.
She also ran 11.16 to win her semi-final heat.
The 27-year-old Toronto native was winning her 12th national title at both the junior and senior level.
She beat Leya Buchanan, who ran 11.28 for second and Shaina Harrison, who clocked 11.45 for third place.
Emmanuel, who holds the national record for the 200m, withdrew from the half-lap due to tightness in her calf.
“After the [100] final I was a bit tight, so warming up this morning was a bit on the tight side so we didn’t want to risk anything,” she revealed.