Olympic Games: Canada’s Morales Williams falls short
PARIS –
Christopher Morales Williams fell short of qualifying for the Olympic men’s 400-metre final.
The Vaughan, Ont., athlete crossed the finish line in 45.25 seconds to finish eighth in the third semifinal heat on Tuesday night at Stade de France.
Morales Williams, who turned 20 on Monday, made it into the semifinals after finishing second in Heat 5 on Sunday with a time of 44.96 seconds.
Entering the Olympics, Morales Williams had the third-leading time in the world, which at one point was the world-leading time, at 44.05 seconds from the Southeastern Conference outdoor championships in May.
Morales Williams turned pro after finishing his sophomore year at the University of Georgia having won the indoor and outdoor NCAA national championships this season. He set the all-time best indoor mark with 44.49 seconds at the SEC indoor championships in February.
Earlier in the day, Brendon Rodney and Aaron Brown qualified for the men’s 200 semifinals.
Rodney, from Toronto, ran a time of 20.42 seconds to earn the top spot in Heat 2 of the repechage round on Tuesday at Stade de France.
Rodney had finished fourth in Heat 3 in Monday’s opening heats with a time of 20.30 seconds. He failed to qualify from there, with the newly implemented repechage giving him a second chance that he capitalized on.
The winner from each of the four heats in the repechage round along with the fastest two times among non-automatic qualifiers advance into Wednesday night’s semifinal. The final is set for Thursday night.
Brown, also from Toronto, finished second in Heat 3 at 20.42 on Tuesday but qualified with one of two fastest non-automatic qualifier spots. The 32-year-old finished sixth in the 200 at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Rodney and Brown join reigning Olympic champion Andre De Grasse to make for three Canadians in the semifinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2024.
