Aaron Brown and Andre De Grasse look to bounce back at Birmingham Diamond League

After battling tough, windy conditions last weekend in Doha, several of Canada’s top sprinters are looking to bounce back as the Diamond League makes a stop in Birmingham, U.K., on Saturday at 9 a.m. E.T. Five Canadian athletes will be competing as they inch closer to July’s World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Ore.

Men’s 100m

Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake finished fourth, fifth and sixth in a wind-aided 200m in Doha. Now, the Canadian sprint trio will tackle half the distance in the 100m. The Olympic 100m bronze medallist, De Grasse, comes into the race as the favourite, but he hasn’t touched the 100m distance yet this season. Blake has shattered both his 100m and 200m personal bests already this season, and this race could be his opportunity to break the 10-second barrier. Although the field is missing the likes of Fred Kerley and Marcell Lamont Jacobs, Trayvon Bromell and Yohan Blake come into the race in great form. Bromell has the fastest time of the year, clocking a 9.92 at the Puerto Rico International Classic last weekend.

The men’s 100m will kick off at 9:30 a.m. E.T.

Men’s 800m

Canada’s Marco Arop had a fairly good showing in a slow 800m race in Doha. After the pace went out slow for the first 400 (56 seconds), the 23-year-old sat in the pack and made a move around 500m to finish third in 1:49.51 behind Kenya’s Noah Kibet and Australia’s Peter Bol. Arop will face some stronger competition in Birmingham with Poland’s 800m bronze medallist from Toyko, Patryk Dobek, making his first appearance in the Diamond League this season. Dobek was a 400m hurdler until 2019, when he made the transition into the 800m, and has since had tons of success.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games 800m champion, Kenya’s Wyclife Kinyamal, comes into the race with the fastest personal best of 1:43:12. Another athlete who can’t be ignored is American Bryce Hoppel. He is coming off a breakout indoor season and a bronze medal in the 800m at 2022 World Indoors in Belgrade, Serbia. Although Hoppel has struggled to translate his success from indoor track to outdoor, it is only a matter of time before the 24-year-old has a big performance. 

The men’s 800m will take place directly after the men’s 100m, at 9:35 a.m. E.T.

Women’s 800m

After running the second-fastest time of her career in California two weeks ago (1:59.59), Lindsey Butterworth crosses the pond to have another stab at the world championship standard of 1:59:50. The field is bound to be fast with the return of the Olympic silver medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, who bowed out of the World Indoor Championships in March due to injury. Hodgkinson mentioned that her main focus this season is to win both World Championships and Commonwealth Games, and surely this 800m will show what kind of shape she is in eight weeks out from Eugene.

Jamacia’s Natoya Goule and Britain’s Alexandra Bell both have personal bests under 1:58.00 and could be contenders to upset Hodgkinson in her return. The pace will be set around 58 seconds for the first 400, which should translate into some fast times for the field.

The women’s 800m will be the last race of the event, starting at 10:50 a.m. E.T.

How to watch

You can watch all the Birmingham Diamond League action on CBC Sports on Saturday, May 21, between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. E.T.