De Grasse wins 200m to deny Brown 5th straight sprint double at track and field nationals

Reigning Olympian champion Andre De Grasse won the men's 200-metre final as the Canadian track and field championship came to a close Sunday at McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C.

He finished in 20.01 seconds just ahead of fellow Olympian and relay teammate Aaron Brown (20.10) with Brendon Rodney (20.15) rounding out the top three.

De Grasse, a six-time Olympic medallist, was fastest in Sunday's preliminary round with a time of 20.31, ahead of Jerome Blake, Brown and Rodney.

WATCH | De Grasse wins 200m title:

De Grasse's time in the final is his fastest 200 since he clocked 19.72 on Sept. 9. 2021 for second place in the Diamond League Final in Zurich.

Before Sunday, his season-best time was 20.28 from his second-place finish at the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix on May 21.

On Saturday, De Grasse, Brown, Blake and Rodney received Olympic relay silver medals Saturday from the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, which were delayed from 2020 to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They were upgraded from bronze to silver after the disqualification of Britain due to a doping violation.

De Grasse winning the 200 comes after he didn't advance to Friday's 100-metre final.

He's twice won an Olympic bronze medal in the 100.

WATCH | De Grasse fails to reach 100m qualifying standard for worlds:

Brown was seeking his fifth consecutive sprint double at nationals after taking the 100 on Friday in 10.08.

"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.

De Grasse finished ninth among the semifinalists in 10.21, failing to meet the 10.00 automatic entry standard for the Aug. 19-27 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary before