Poor start in Morocco costs sprinter Jerome Blake chance at 2nd straight 200m win

Earlier this season, Jerome Blake talked about focusing on executing his own race and running consistently on the track.

The Canadian opened his 200-metre outdoor season with fourth-place finish on April 16 in a personal-best 20.04 seconds at the USATF Golden Games in California. A 20.25 effort followed a month later at the Diamond League season opener before Blake won earlier this week at the Ostrava Golden Spike in 20.14.

In Sunday's Diamond League race following a false start by Isaac Makwala of Botswana — who was allowed to remain in the race — Blake struggled out of the starting blocks and didn't appear relaxed in the deceleration phase, crossing the finish in 20.74 for fifth place in Rabat, Morocco.

"I'm a lot stronger [than last year] and comfortable in my upright running," the 26-year-old told CBC Sports recently. "My biggest worry is getting a good start, push away from the blocks and [rely] on my technique.

"I'm still working on technical things in the first 10 or 20 metres and trying to wrap my head around and trust what I've done to make sure it works."

WATCH | Kenny Bednarek captures men's 200 metres in Rabat:

Last season, Blake's first under coach Dennis Mitchell at Star Athletics in Florida after his move from B.C., the Kelowna native put too many expectations and pressure on himself but opened this campaign living up to the potential he showed and more confident in his abilities.

"His issue was his start [out of the blocks] and transitioning [to top-end speed," said Aaron Brown, Blake's training partner and Canadian relay teammate. "He's worked a lot in practice with Dennis to improve and still has a lot of room for growth. I feel his top-end speed is world class.

"You have to believe you're going to come