Aaron Brown picked up where he left off last season over 200 metres on the track. The Toronto sprinter crossed the line in 20.00 seconds in a slight headwind, finishing second to local favourite Letsile Tebogo (19.87) in Saturday's men's race at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix.
Liberian-American sprinter Joseph Fahnbulleh, the 2022 NCAA Division 1 champion in the 200, was third in 2014. Brown's reigning world champion 4x100m relay teammates were also in Saturday's race at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.
Brendon Rodney was fifth (20.28), Jerome Blake sixth (20.39) and Andre De Grasse seventh (20.41). The foursome won world championship gold last summer in the 100 relay, upsetting a stacked United States team for Canada's first major title in the 4x100 since Donovan Bailey, Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert & Robert Esmie at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Brown's performance on Saturday, his first 200 of the season, is his fastest since a 19.99 effort on Aug. 3, 2021 in the semifinal round of the Tokyo Olympics.