Editor’s note: This story is about the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. For coverage on the Rio 2016 Olympics please click here.
BEIJING – The Canadian men’s 4×100-metre relay team were on the right side of a disqualification this time.
Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, Andre De Grasse and Justyn Warner won the bronze medal at the world track and field championships Saturday after the Americans were disqualified for an illegal baton change.
It was redemption for the Canadians, who were denied a gold medal at the Pan Am Games earlier this year after they were disqualified following two American-led protests.
READ MORE: Canada’s relay team disqualified at Pan Am Games
Canada was also disqualified in the event at the 2012 London Olympics, costing the team a bronze medal.
The dramatic bronze in the relay capped a big day for Canada, with decathlete Damian Warner and 800-metre runner Melissa Bishop capturing silver medals.
Canada will head into the final day of competition in Beijing with seven medals, two more than its previous best of five set two years ago in Moscow.
With Justyn Warner running the anchor leg in the relay, it appeared the Canadians would have to settle for fourth with a time of 38.13 seconds when China’s last runner sprinted to an unexpected third-place finish.
But officials ruled that the Americans’ third baton exchange occurred outside the zone, moving the host Chinese to silver and Canada to bronze.
The result gives De Grasse, a rising sprint star from Markham, Ont., two medals at his first world championships. De Grasse also took bronze in the men’s 100 metres.
Usain Bolt and the powerful Jamaicans thundered to gold in 37.36 seconds.
Earlier, Damian Warner of London, Ont., won silver in the decathlon and Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., captured silver in the women’s 800 metres.
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