Toronto's Brown wins 200m bronze

Brown fought hard, clawing his way to a bronze-medal finish in the men's 200 metres, in a personal-best time of 21 seconds flat.

"I was running from lane eight, so I didn't really see anybody until I got to the straightaway," Brown said. 

"They all started to pull away, so I just tried to finish as strong as I could, and I'm happy I got the bronze medal."

Shota Iizuka of Japan took the gold in 20.67 seconds, with Aliaksandr Linnik of Belarus grabbing the silver in 20.89.

Brown finished just 0.02 ahead of fourth-place Wayne Van Niekerk of South Africa, who was clocked in 21.02.

The roar of the crowd was a factor, Brown said.

"I could hear them cheering me on. I just wanted to give them something to be proud of."

Brown, 18, had to wait until the final results were posted on the scoreboard, before realizing he had won Canada's second medal of the world juniors. 

"It was nerve-wracking. I was just saying 'please god, please. Don't leave me off the podium again.' And, when it flashed my name, I just had to go to the ground and thank god."

Brown was fifth in the 100-metre final on Wednesday night -- a result he wasn't pleased with, after having a poor start. 

Team Canada decided to rest Brown as much as possible for the 200 final, pulling him out of the heats of the 4x100 relay. Unfortunately, without Brown, the relay team failed to advance to the final.

"So I wanted to leave everything I had on this track because I knew it was my last race."

The bronze medal caps an up-and-down season for the graduate of Toronto's Birchmount Collegiate.

He had to pull out of the 200 in the Ontario high school championships (OFSAA) because of a hamstring injury.

"I was having a really rough season. It didn't go the way I wanted, including the 100 in Moncton. I was really fatigued, my fitness level wasn't as sharp as it should be. But I gave it everything that I had. And fortunately, I got the bronze medal."

Also on Friday, Canada's women's 4x100 relay team advanced to final, finishing third in their heat, with a 44.77 clocking.

Hamilton's Anthony Romaniw was the only other Canadian athlete to advance past the rounds on Friday. He will compete in the semifinals of the 800 metres after running 1:51.00 in his heat.