A pair of Canadian athletes opened their Diamond League track and field seasons at the series stop in Doha, Qatar, on Friday.
Aaron Brown finished fourth in the men’s 200-metre event, posting a time of 20.35 seconds.
The race was won by current world No. 1-ranked athlete in the distance, Letsile Tobogo. The Botswanan eased up before the finish line and still managed a season-best time of 20.10, ahead of American Courtney Lindsey (20.11) and Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia (20.26).
WATCH | Brown falls short of top-3 spot:
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo ran a 200-metre time of 20.10 capturing the Diamond League event in Doha, Aaron Brown of Canada was fourth.
Tobogo’s previous season-best was 20.23, set at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in mid April.
Friday’s race marked the first 200m event of the season for Brown, who won a bronze-medal as part of Canada’s 4x100m team at World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, last weekend.
That team also clinched a spot at this September’s world championships in Tokyo.
Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse raced to a bronze medal time of 38.11 Sunday at the World Athletics Relay Championships in Guangzhou, China.
Newman 8th in Doha
Alysha Newman, the Olympic women’s pole vault bronze medallist at Paris 2024, finished eighth in her first outdoor event of the season.
The Delaware, Ont., native succeeded on her second attempt at 4.48m but was unable to clear 4.63m in three tries.
Newman, who holds the Canadian record of 4.85m, competed in only one indoor event in 2025, finishing second (4.50m) at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in February.
CBC Sports’ Anastasia Bucsis chats with Alysha Newman about life after Olympic bronze and what’s next.
For more information on athletics events streaming live on CBC Sports this season, click here to see the full broadcast schedule.
