Canada's Brown bounces back from blocks mishap to clinch spot in world 200 semis

EUGENE, Ore. — Canada's Aaron Brown overcame a mishap with his starting blocks Monday to clinch a spot in the 200-metre semifinals at the world track and field championships.

The 30-year-old from Toronto was second in his heat in 20.60 seconds to automatically advance to the semis.

The start of Brown's heat was called back after his starting blocks slipped, shooting backwards as he fell forward.

"It felt fine," said Brown, who finished eighth in the 100 on Saturday. "I ran like maybe 70 per cent (effort), just because after the first time when I slipped out of the blocks, I felt a little bit of a cramp in my quad.

"Didn't want to risk it. I just wanted to be conservative, and just do what I had to do to get through."

Jerome Blake of Burnaby, B.C., was third in his heat in 20.30 to advance to Tuesday's semis. The final is Thursday.

The 200 field is missing Canada's Olympic champion Andre De Grasse, who withdrew after saying he's still not 100 per cent healthy after contracting COVID-19 about a month ago. De Grasse was eliminated in the 100 semifinals on Saturday.

Defending world champion Noah Lyles of the U.S. was the fastest qualifier in 19.98.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2022.