Two days after being disqualified from the national 100m final in Ottawa, Kelowna’s Jerome Blake found redemption in the 200m. Blake stormed to a Canadian championship record time of 19.95 seconds (+1.6 m/s), becoming just the fourth Canadian ever to break the 20-second barrier over 200 metres.
The victory marked Blake’s first senior national title, and with it, he officially secured his place on Team Canada for both the 100m and 200m at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo this September. The previous Canadian championship record of 19.96 seconds was set by Brendon Rodney in 2016.
Blake, 29, wasn’t surprised by the time. “The way my season and training have gone, I knew I had a sub-20 in me,” he said post-race. “I just had to be patient.”
That patience was tested after a heartbreaking disqualification from Friday’s 100m semi-finals for a false start. Blake had entered nationals with hopes of completing the 100/200 double, and although the first half of that dream ended abruptly, he credited his mental strength and support team for helping him reset and focus on Sunday’s race.
Blake is enjoying a career-best season in 2025—breaking 10 seconds in the 100m for the first time and now going sub-20 in the 200m. Just last month, he shocked the athletics world by defeating Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo at a meet in Italy.
Finishing second was Canadian sprint veteran Aaron Brown, who clocked a season’s best 20.08 seconds, earning him the world championship entry standard (20.16). Brown, 33, will be making his seventh world championship appearance for Canada. Eliezer Adjibi of Ottawa rounded out the podium with a personal best of 20.60 seconds.
For full results from the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships, see here.
Jerome Blake eyes 100m title at Canadian championships this weekend
