Battling hip issue, Aaron Brown disqualified from men's 200m for false start in Sweden

A tough week on the track for Aaron Brown began with his slowest 200-metre race of the season and ended in disqualification for the four-time Canadian Olympian in the same event on Sunday in Stockholm.

Brown broke out from the starting blocks too early for a false start at the Olympic Stadium, only minutes after the men's field of eight was shown a green card to signify a false start that wasn't the fault of any athlete.

"Long hold with the [start] gun," is what the Toronto native attributed to his false start, in a text message to CBC Sports. He was subsequently disqualified but ran under protest at the BAUHAUS-galan Diamond League track and field meet.

Brown believed it was bang-bang, referring to the verbal command "set" followed by the firing of a starting gun, but race officials thought otherwise. His protest was declined.

"I didn't get an explanation," said Brown, fresh of a sixth-place finish on Thursday at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, where he ran 20.65 seconds.

"My entire race plan was thrown off after the false start. All I was thinking [after the reset] was, 'Don't false start,' instead of my [race] execution.

"The first step to turning it around is accepting it happened, and it's behind me now. I've had rough stretches before and overcome them, so I'm staying positive."

WATCH | Brown DQ'd in men's 200m, won by Cuba's Mena:

Canada's Brown disqualified at Diamond League 200-metre race, Cuban Mena captures win

At the Paris Olympics last summer, Brown false started in the 100m heats but raced in the semifinals four day later.

He false started in the 200m semifinals of the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary for stepping on the line separating running lanes. Brown's time of 20.19