(Eugene) Canada upset the United States in the men’s 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Updated yesterday at 11:51 p.m.
It was the Canadian team that won the gold medal in the 4×100 m relay. The quartet of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse came from behind to cap the finish line in first place.
The Canadians finished with a time of 37.48 seconds. The United States and the United Kingdom followed respectively.
Canada will enter the final day of the World Championships in Athletics with a total of three medals.
De Grasse, who was unable to race the 200 meters after contracting COVID-19 in the past month, was Canada’s last runner.
The Canadian quartet won silver at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
A few minutes after the surprise victory of their women’s 4x100m relay, the United States seemed set to crush the sprint evening, they who had already achieved two hat-tricks in the men’s 100 and 200m at these Worlds.
“I’ve been saying it for years, if I’m in the team we won’t lose. Point. And we could even beat the world record, “said 200m world champion Noah Lyles at the start of the competition.
With Christian Coleman, Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy as a finisher, Lyles came across stronger with the Canadian quartet.
The Canadian Marco Arop meanwhile stood on the podium of an event of the World Athletics Championships for the first time, thanks to a bronze medal in the 800 meters.
The Edmontonian finished with a time of one minute and 44.28 seconds.
Algerian Djamel Sedjati completed the podium with the silver medal.
Arop, 23, is only the second Canadian man to medal in this event at the World Championships in Athletics. Gary Reed won the silver in 2007 in Osaka, Japan.
Arop set the third fastest time in the world this season three weeks ago, while competing to prepare for the World Championships in Athletics.
Damian Warner drops out
Damian Warner, the Canadian and leader of the event, was forced to give up during the 400 meter decathlon event.
The reigning Olympic champion suffered an injury after the first corner – about 120 meters into the race – and fell to the ground. He was unable to complete the race and therefore received no points.
Due to his retirement, Warner fell to 21e rank.
His compatriot Pierce Lepage finished second in the 400 meters with a time of 46.84 seconds.
Lepage also moved up to second overall with 4,485 points. He concluded the first day of competition with a deficit of 121 points on the leader, the Puerto Rican Ayden Owens-Delerme.
The last five events will be held on Sunday.
Warner has never won gold at the World Championships in Athletics. He obtained a silver and two bronze medals.
At the Tokyo Olympics last summer, Warner broke the Canadian record and became the fourth athlete in decathlon history to break the 9,000 point mark.
With The Canadian Press