Aaron Brown (sprinter)

Brown attended Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute until 2010, and committed to the University of Southern California (USC) on a track scholarship.[1] In 2009 Brown won the silver medal in the 100 m at the World Youth Championships in Brixen, Italy with a time of 10.74 into a headwind of 1.2 m/s. Prezel Hardy of the US took the gold and Giovanni Galbieri of Italy the bronze.[2]

The 2010 track season saw Brown suffer through several injuries, including in a dramatic 200 m final at the 2010 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) meet. One month later at the World Junior Championships Brown, after a disappointing fifth-place finish in the 100 m fought hard, clawing his way to a bronze-medal finish in front of the home crowd in the men's 200 m, in a personal-best time of 21 seconds flat. Shōta Iizuka of Japan took the gold in 20.67 seconds, with Aliaksandr Linnik of Belarus grabbing the silver in 20.89. Brown finished just 0.02 ahead of fourth-place Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, who was clocked in 21.02.[3]

In 2011, Brown placed third in the men's 100 m dash at the Canadian Track and Field Championships held 24 June in Calgary, Alberta. Brown had a time of 10.39 in the finals to finish in third place behind winner Sam Effah 10.23 and Jared Connaughton 10.31. Brown had an outstanding freshman season, reaching the NCAA semifinals in the 100 m dash and posting a best legal time of 10.38.[4] Brown finished a successful season winning silver with the men's 4×100 metres relay team and won individual bronze in the 100 m at the 2011 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships hosted in Miramar, Florida, United States at the Ansin Sports Complex.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Brown placed 3rd in Round 1 of the Men's 200 m with a time of 20.55.[5]. He placed 4th in the semifinals with a time of 20.42.[5]

Brown continued to set faster and faster times as his career progressed. In 2016 Brown ran a 9.96 in the 100 m joining Andre De Grasse in the sub-10 second club.[6] Brown beat Tyson Gay in the preliminaries at the Star Athletics meet in Florida while running the 9.97. In the final he finished second to Marvin Bracy who ran a 9.94 in front of Brown's 10.01.[6]

Brown attended 2013 World Championships in Athletics, there he qualified second in his preliminary heat with a time of 10.15. He ran the same time in the semis but only had the 13th fastest time, meaning he missed the final. He also ran with the Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team, winning a bronze medal while running at 37.92 with Gavin Smellie, Dontae Richards-Kwok, and Justyn Warner.

At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics Brown ran a 10.03 wind assisted at +2.1 m/s, though in the semis he ran a familiar 10.15 missing the final again. Team Canada repeated their bronze medal win running a 38.13 with Andre De Grasse, Brendon Rodney, and Justyn Warner.

In August 2017, Brown competed in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics representing Canada in the 4 x 100 metres relay. Missing their anchor Andre De Grasse, the Canadian relay team ultimately placed sixth in the finals.[7]

He participated as part of Canada's Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro.[8] In his initial sprint distance of the 100 metres he ran 10.24 in the heats and did not advance into the semifinals. While he did advance to the semis in the 200 with a 20.23, his 20.37 there did not get him into the final race.

Brown was part of the 4 x 100 m relay team, they finished third in their heats. In the final the team came agonizingly close to a medal, the team was 0.02 seconds behind the third place United States team, setting the national record. However, the USA team was later disqualified for an improper baton pass, handing the bronze to Canada and Brown. He ran together with anchor De Grasse, Brendon Rodney, Akeem Haynes, and Mobolade Ajomale who only ran in the heats.[9]

In 2012 Brown was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[10]

• Canadian records in track and field

• Aaron Brown at World Athletics
• Aaron Brown at the Commonwealth Games Federation
• Aaron Brown at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• "Profile at Athletics Canada". Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
• USC Trojans bio