Aaron Brown sprints to 1st 200-metre win of season, holding off Kyree King in Kenya | CBC Sports

Toronto sprinter Aaron Brown picked up his third top-three placing in as many 200-metre races this season and first victory with a strong finish on Saturday in Nairobi, Kenya.

Following a false start — no warnings were given to any athlete — Brown improved his performance as the race progressed, coming off the bend in first place and holding off American Kyree King down the straightaway to win in 20.12 seconds at the Kip Keino Classic.

King crossed the finish line in a season-best 20.18 after opening his outdoor campaign in the event with a 20.29 showing at the Diamond League opener a week ago in Doha, Qatar.

Liberian-American sprinter Joseph Fahnbulleh, the 2022 NCAA Division 1 champion in the 200, was third in 20.19 at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.

WATCH | Brown sprints to victory in Nairobi:

Canada’s Aaron Brown wins 200m at Kip Keino Classic

The Canadian sprinter takes top spot at the World Athletics Continental Tour’s stop in Kenya.

In Doha, Brown stopped the clock in 20.20 behind Americans Fred Kerley (19.92) and Kenny Bednarek (20.11). He ran 20-flat for second in his first 200 of the season at the  Botswana Golden Grand Prix late last month, the 30-year-old’s fastest since he went 19.99 on Aug. 3, 2021 in the semifinal round of the Tokyo Olympics.

Quick recovery

Elsewhere, Ethan Katzberg, fresh off a personal-best and season world-leading 78.41-metre hammer throw, placed second on Saturday with a best of 76.38 on the fourth of his six attempts at Kasarani Stadium.

The 21-year-old from Nanaimo, B.C., started slowly with a 70.14 opening throw but rebounded with 75.72 on his next try.

Wojcieh Nowicki of Poland threw 79.78 to win the six-man competition and boasts the meet record of 81.43. Hungary’s Donat Varga was third (74.12) despite posting a foul on four of six throws.

Katzberg was brimming with confidence after his 78.41 showing on May 5 at the Dylan Armstrong Track Classic in Kamloops, B.C., where he has lived since 2020. The performance met the 78.00 automatic qualifying standard for the men’s event at the Aug. 19-27 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The six-foot-six, 235-pound Katzberg trains with Armstrong, the two-time Olympian who won bronze in shot put at the 2008 Beijing Games who is head coach at Kamloops Track and Field Club.

Katzberg made headlines last August with a then-PB of 76.36 for a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The throw surpassed his previous best by over two metres and is the Canadian under-23 record.

“Paris 2024 [next Summer Olympics] is what I am working for,” he told the Victoria Times-Colonist at the time.

WATCH | Katzberg captures Commonwealth silver medal for Canada:

Ethan Katzberg wins silver in hammer throw final at Commonwealth Games

The Nanaimo, B.C. native would go on to throw 76.36 metres to set a new personal best, earning himself a silver medal.