Canada's Brown, Rodney try to join De Grasse in Diamond League elite

The roar of the crowd is deafening as nine sprinters blaze to the finish line in the men's 100 metres at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

Canada's Donovan Bailey, who led after 85 metres of the June 6, 1994 race before losing time turning his head to the competition, crossed third in 10.24 seconds, behind winner Carl Lewis (10.14) of the United States and Namibia's Freddie Fredericks (10.19). He pounded the track with his hand, rose to his feet and muttered, "Never again."

"That stadium is very special for me because that's where I realized I could beat every person in the world," says Bailey, who ran a world-record 9.84 in 1996 to win the 100 at the Atlanta Olympics. "That's when I realized I belonged."

Now a CBC Sports analyst, Bailey will be in Rome on Thursday, 23 years to the day of that Golden Gala performance, to watch Canadian relay teammates Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney run the 200 at the Diamond League meet (CBCSports.ca, 2 p.m. ET). Together, the trio won 4x100 relay bronze with Akeem Haynes at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Bailey is hoping Brown and Rodney walk away from that race, scheduled for 3:30 p.m., feeling the way he did nearly 25 years ago. At the Diamond League's Shanghai meet on May 13, Brown (season-best 20.41) and Rodney (20.63) finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in a nine-man field.

De Grasse, meanwhile, posted his first 200 win of the season at the Jamaica International Invitational last month, clocking 20.14 to outlast American LaShawn Merritt (20.28) after capturing Olympic silver last August in 20.02.

"Andre knows he belongs [among the elite] and he's confident. Aaron and Brendon need to find that," said Bailey. "Aaron and Brendon have to establish themselves on the global circuit as individuals. I'm looking for a good race where Aaron and Brendon show up better than they did in Shanghai.

"In order for you to even be respected [by your peers] in the 200, you have to run sub-20 [seconds], not 20.60 or 20.40. Aaron and Brendon are sub-20 guys. The best place to show it is at a Diamond League [event] where all the eyes of track and field are watching."

Ideally, Bailey added, Rodney and Brown, who is also scheduled to run the 100 at 2:30 p.m., would repeat their performances from the Canadian championships last July in Edmonton, which doubled as a Rio qualifier, where they placed 1-2 in 19.96 and 20.32. De Grasse was third, also in 20.32.

"Aaron and Brendon will be in a race where they can warm up together and can get in the race and know that Andre's a gamer, so he'll be ready to go, and they can just go," said Bailey.

De Grasse also figures to be pushed Thursday by American Ameer Webb, who ran 19.85 (PB) to win the 200 at last year's Golden Gala, and Christophe Lemaitre, the Frenchman who clocked 20.12 to win bronze in Rio.

"Andre ran the corner hard at the Olympics," said Bailey, "However, he's running the corner even harder now, so he's going to come off the turn in front. I think there's been a special focus with Andre and his coach [Stuart McMillan] on coming out of the blocks and almost chopping your stride going around the turn.

"If it's good weather in Rome [sun and 17 C is forecasted] certainly [De Grasse's] Canadian record [of 19.80, set in Rio] could be broken. We have to understand that Andre's a natural athlete, very much like myself, and we're focusing on making sure he peaks at the right time.

"Every race is a systematic build to London [and the world championships in August]."

Here's a breakdown of the other Canadians in Rome:

Brittany Crew, women's shot put (12:15 p.m. ET): The 23-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., improved on her Canadian record with a throw of 18.58 metres on May 20 at the Tucson Elite Classic. Two days earlier, Crew had broken Julie Labonte's national mark of 18.31 that stood since 2011.

Gabriela Stafford, women's 1,500 (3:13 p.m.): At the recent Prefontaine Classic, Stafford met a world standard and topped the field in four minutes 7.43 seconds. The 21-year-old Toronto native was coming off a season-best 4:08.41 the previous week at the USATF Distance Championships.

Alyx Treasure, women's high jump (2:10 p.m.): The 2016 Olympian cleared 1.91 metres, a season best, to win at the Ward Haylett Invitational in Kansas on May 6. Treasure, 25, placed 17th in Rio with a personal best 1.94m.

Brandon McBride, men's 800 (2:40 p.m.): McBride, who hails from Windsor, Ont., opened his season clocking one minute 46.40 seconds to finish eighth among 11 runners at Diamond League Shanghai last month. The 22-year-old won the 1,500 at the Florida Relays on March 31 after finishing sixth in his semifinal and 14th overall at the Rio Olympics.

Andrea Seccafien, women's 5,000 (3:40 p.m.): On May 5, the Guelph, Ont., native secured a qualifying mark for the world championships at the Payton Jordan Invitational with a time of 15 minutes 21.64 seconds, which ranked ninth in the world as of May 9.

Jonathan Cabral, men's 110m hurdles (3:05 p.m.): Cabral, 24, ran a season-best 13.38 seconds at a meet in Marigot, Saint Martin on May 13. Last August, the American-Canadian hurdler who lists Peribonka, Que., as his hometown, placed sixth in the final of the men's 100 hurdles at the Rio Olympics.

Diamond League on CBC Sports

CBC Sports is providing live streaming coverage of all 14 Diamond League meets this season at CBCSports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. TV coverage will be featured as part of the network's Road To The Olympic Games weekend broadcasts throughout the season.

The following is a list of upcoming Diamond League meets on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app:

- Rome (Thursday, 2 p.m. ET)

- Oslo (June 15, 2 p.m. ET)

- Stockholm (June 18, 2 p.m. ET)

- Paris (July 1, 2 p.m. ET)

- Lausanne (July 6, 2 p.m. ET)

- London (July 9, 9 a.m. ET)

- Rabat (July 16, 2 p.m. ET)

- Monaco (July 21, 2 p.m. ET)

- Birmingham (Aug. 20, 2 p.m. ET)

- Zurich (Aug. 24, 3 p.m. ET)

- Brussels (Sept. 1, 3 p.m. ET)