Brendon Rodney (born 9 April 1992) is a Canadian sprinter. As a member of the Canadian men's relay team, he is a two-time Olympic medallist in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individ ...

, taking silver in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

and bronze in 2016. He is also the 2022 World champion and 2015 World bronze medallist in the same event.

Career

Rodney attended St. Augustine Secondary School in Brampton. Rodney was named to Canada's team for the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

. The following year he competed for Canada's team at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. He then competed as part of the Canadian team at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: * 15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak a ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. On his way to competing for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rodney became just the second Canadian man to run the 200 m in under 20 seconds when he ran a 19.96 at the national trials in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

, beating favourite

Andre De Grasse Andre De Grasse (born November 10, 1994) is a Canadian sprinter. A six-time Olympic medallist, De Grasse is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 m, and also won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4×100 r ...

. The win came just weeks after his mother almost died of a brain

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ...

. In July 2016, he was named to Canada's Olympic team. In addition to winning a bronze medal with the Canadian relay team, he competed in the men's 200 m event, placing third in the seventh of the preliminary heats. In August 2017, Rodney competed in the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanes ...

, representing Canada in the 4x100 m relay. The Canadian relay team ultimately placed sixth place in the finals. Despite being defending gold medalists in the 4×200 m at the 2019 World Relay Championships, Rodney and the Canadian relay team failed to advance out of the heats in the 4×100 m relay. Competing at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held bet ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

, Rodney placed thirteenth in the heats of the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

, and did not advance. In a disappointing finish, the Canadian relay team did not advance to the 4×100 m final despite having the eighth-fastest overall time due to their running in the faster of the two heats. While the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

delayed the 2020 Summer Olympics by a year, Rodney was eventually named to his second Olympic team. He placed sixth in his heat of the

with a time of 20.60 and did not advance. Subsequently, the relay team of Rodney, Aaron Brown,

Jerome Blake Jerome Blake (born August 18, 1995) is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in the sprint events. As a member of the Canadian 4×100 m relay team, he is the 2020 Olympic silver medalist and the 2022 World champion. Career Early car ...

, and

won their second consecutive bronze medal in the 4×100 m relay. On 18 February 2022,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

was stripped of its silver medal in the men's 4×100 m relay after the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

confirmed CJ Ujah’s doping violation. Canada was upgraded to silver. At the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, the prospects of the Canadian 4×100 m relay team were called into question due to anchor runner De Grasse's struggles with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

infection shortly before the championships. However, the Canadian team qualified for the finals with the third-fastest time in the heats, only 0.01 seconds out of second. In the final, the Canadians staged a major upset victory over the heavily favoured American team to take the gold medal, aided by smooth baton exchanges while the Americans made multiple fumbles, breaking the national record in the process. This was Canada's third gold in the event, and the others being consecutive

Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...

-era wins in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. The result "stunned" the heavily American crowd at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's Oregon Ducks track and field, t ...

, though De Grasse noted, "there's a lot of Canadian flags out there, a lot of fans cheering us on."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodney, Brendon 1992 births Living people Canadian male sprinters World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Athletes from Toronto Sportspeople from Etobicoke Track and field athletes from Ontario Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Black Canadian track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for Canada Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Canadian people 21st-century Canadian people