Final Results
EDMONTON, Alberta - Recent LIU Brooklyn track and field alum Brendon Rodney became just the second Canadian athlete to ever break the 20-second barrier in the 200-meter dash, and punched his ticket to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil with a gold medal-winning performance at the Canadian National Track & Field Championships on Sunday.
Rodney, who sprinted to a time of 19.96 in the final of the 200-meter dash to best former NCAA champion Andre de Grasse and previous Canadian record holder Aaron Brown, becomes the third LIU men's track & field performer to earn the right to represent their country at an Olympic Games (Richard James, Jamaica (2004); Julius Mutekanga, Uganda (2012)).
After winning his preliminary heat earlier in the day with a meet-record time of 20.25, Rodney was scheduled to run the final at 4:20 p.m. ET. But heavy rain began to fall just before the start of the 200-meter final, postponing the race nearly two hours. The delay would not deter Rodney, however, as the bronze medalist at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June continued his strong season with a good start out of the blocks.
At about the 50-meter mark, LIU Brooklyn's Male Athlete of the Year from this past year had made up the stagger on Gavin Smellie in lane four, and had taken the lead in the race. Facing stiff competition from De Grasse, who won the 100-meter dash earlier in the week in a time of 9.99, and Brown, Rodney extended his lead around the final curve and sprinted to his personal-best time that bested the other two runners by over three-tenths of a second.
The Canadian national title is the second in Rodney's career, as he also won the 2014 title in Moncton, New Brunswick. The time shaved over two-tenths of a second off of Rodney's prior best legal time of 20.18, set at last year's IAAF World Championships in Beijing. The Brampton, Ontario product did run 19.97 at the NCAA East Preliminary Meet earlier this spring, but the wind was over the allowable limit.
The victory assures Rodney will compete for an individual medal at the 2016 Olympica, and the former Blackbird is expected to be named to the 4x100-meter relay pool when the Canadian Olympic Team is announced on Monday. Rodney was a part of last year's bronze medal-winning team at World Championships.
Another former Blackbird also competed at Canadian National Championships, as former NEC Outstanding Track Performer Brian Richards advanced to the finals of the 110-meter hurdles before finishing seventh.