Aaron Brown of Canada, right, Antonio Infantino of Italy, William Reais of Switzerland, Serhiy Smelyk of Ukraine and Muhammad Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid of Brunei race in the men's 200m on Aug. 3, 2021.PHIL NOBLE/Reuters
Canadians Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown have secured their spots in the men’s 200-metre semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Brown, a 29-year-old from Toronto, easily won his heat in 20.38 seconds to qualify.
De Grasse was third in his heat in 20.56.
American Kenny Bednarek had the fastest time of the seven heats.
Brown’s time was the eighth fastest on the morning, while De Grasse was 16th.
De Grasse won bronze in the 100-metre on Sunday and is the reigning Olympic silver medallist in the 200.
The semifinals were set for Tuesday evening.
Because the 200 has two rounds on the same day in Tokyo, De Grasse has been focusing more on the 200, to improve his speed endurance, this season.
Kyra Constantine of Toronto clinched a spot in the women’s 400 semifinals. Constantine was fifth in her heat, but her time of 51.69 was fast enough to advance.
The conditions on a steamy 31 C morning at Olympic Stadium were virtually perfect for the sprinters.
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