De Grasse, Brown, Blake sprint into men’s 200-metre semifinals in Tokyo

United States' Noah Lyles and Canada's Andre De Grasse race in a men's 200 meters heat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

TOKYO — Canadian sprinters Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake qualified for the men’s 200-metre semifinal through Wednesday’s heats at the 2025 world athletics championships.

The Canadians did not finish in the top three in their respective heats and earn automatic qualification, and had to endure some nervous minutes as they waited to see if they’d move on by having one of the six next-fastest times.

De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., ended up with the second-fastest time outside automatic qualification at 20.30 seconds after the 2021 Olympic champion finished fourth in a heat that included American star Noah Lyles.

De Grasse said after the race he had to overcome “a lot of rust.”

“First 200 in three months, so kind of took a little bit out of me,” he said. “I think the first 100 (metres) were good but kind of lost it a bit the last 50.

“I think today was a good sign to see where I’m at and tomorrow I’ve just got to come out and bring it.”

Brown finished fifth in his heat at 20.33 seconds. The Toronto sprinter still qualified by placing well in a fast heat that featured two runners — Tapiwanashe Makarawu of Zimbabwe and Courtney Lindsey of the United States — posting times under 20 seconds.

“When I saw the (winning) time I was like ‘Whoa, it was that fast?’” Brown said. “I didn’t know where I was in relation to them, so when I saw my time I was like ‘Aw man, I’m in trouble. I got fifth.’”

“It was a suspenseful wait,” he added. “I’m glad my time was good enough to go through.”

Blake, from Kelowna, B.C., took the last spot in Thursday’s semifinal after finishing fifth in his heat at 20.43 seconds.

“I don’t feel very happy about it because I know I’m in better shape than that,” Blake said.

“I’m not sure what happened. I feel like I executed the first 150 of the race properly, and then the last 50 I don’t really know what happened. I’ll have to look at the video.”

“I know I need to refocus and come back for the semis tomorrow,” he added.

Jamaica’s Bryan Levell had the top qualifying time in 19.84 seconds, followed by Makarawu (19.91) and Lindsey (19.95).

Also Wednesday, Audrey Leduc of Gatineau, Que., qualified for the women’s 200 semifinal after she finished fourth in her heat at 22.82 seconds.

Ottawa’s Jacqueline Madogo finished sixth in her heat at 23.23 seconds and did not advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025.