Aaron Brown

Biography

Aaron Brown is a two-time Olympic medallist in the 4x100m relay. In his second Olympic Games at Rio 2016, he ran the second leg for the team that set a national record time of 37.64 seconds to earn the bronze medal. At Tokyo 2020, he was the leadoff runner in the first round and the final to earn silver for a second straight Olympic medal in the event. It was also in Tokyo that he advanced to his first individual Olympic final, winning his first round and semifinal heats in the 200m, before finishing sixth overall. In his Olympic debut at London 2012, he had come within one spot of qualifying for the 200m final, finishing ninth by 0.05 seconds.

Brown stood atop the podium at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon after winning gold in the 4x100m relay with teammates Andre De Grasse, Jerome Blake, and Brendon Rodney. They also broke the national record with their time of 37.48. For the second straight worlds, Brown was a finalist in both the 100m and 200m, the only man in Eugene to achieve that. In September 2022, he won 200m silver and 100m bronze at the Diamond League Final in Zurich.

One of the country’s top sprinters, Brown is a former Canadian record holder in the 200m, breaking a 23-year-old mark in late May 2014 and then lowering it to 20.02 seconds that June. Though that record would eventually be broken by De Grasse, Brown dropped his personal best in the 200m to 19.98s in 2018 and then 19.95s in July 2019. On June 11, 2016, he became just the fourth Canadian man to ever break the 10-second barrier in the 100m, running 9.96s at a meet in Florida. He and De Grasse are the only Canadians to run under 10 seconds in the 100m and under 20 seconds in the 200m.

Brown made his senior World Athletics Championships debut in 2013, where he was part of the bronze medal 4x100m relay team. He ran the leadoff leg when Canada successfully defended that bronze in 2015. Earlier in 2015 he was the anchor of the 4x100m relay team that appeared to have won gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto before a lane violation led to disqualification.

Brown’s 2017 season was marked by bad luck, which included a disqualification for a false start in the 100m heats at the Canadian Championships and a disqualification for a lane violation in the 200m heats at the World Athletics Championships. He was part of a sixth-place finish with the 4x100m relay at the world championships, where they competed without De Grasse who had to withdraw with a hamstring injury.

Things turned around in 2018, however, starting with a silver medal in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. He also reached the podium at three straight Diamond League meets and became a double gold medallist in the 100m and 200m at the Canadian Championships. He capped the season with a 200m silver and 4x100m relay gold at the NACAC Championships in Toronto.

In 2019, Brown successfully defended both sprint titles at the Canadian Championships. He reached the finals in the 100m and 200m at the World Athletics Championships, joining De Grasse as the only men to race in both sprint finals in Doha.

After a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Brown started 2021 with back-to-back 200m bronze medals at the Ostrava Golden Spike and Doha Diamond League meets. For the third straight year, he was crowned Canadian champion in the 100m and 200m. On Canada Day he won 200m silver at the Diamond League meet in Oslo.

Brown had previously won 200m bronze at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships and 100m silver at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships. At the 2011 Pan American Junior Championships, he won 100m bronze and 4x100m relay silver. Brown raced collegiately for the USC Trojans. As a senior, he won 100m bronze and 200m silver at the 2014 NCAA Championships.

A Little More About Aaron

Getting into the Sport: Started running track at age 16 thanks to high school coach Bill Stephens… Has wanted to compete for Team Canada since watching the Beijing 2008 100m final… Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Southern California in 2014; major in political science and minor in business… Enjoys playing basketball, travelling, music, art, collecting shoes, eating unhealthy in the off-season… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “To be #1, you must train like you’re #2”… Role model is LeBron James because of the way he lived up to his hype and overcame the critics… Collects mascot dolls from the meets at which he competes… Nicknames: Kingsley, AB, Smoov…