TOKYO — Canadian sprinters Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake qualified for the men’s 200-metre semifinal through Wednesday’s heats at the 2025 world athletics championships.

The Canadians did not finish in the top three in their respective heats and earn automatic qualification, and had to endure some nervous minutes as they waited to see if they’d move on by having one of the six next-fastest times.

De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., ended up with the second-fastest time outside automatic qualification at 20.30 seconds after the 2021 Olympic champion finished fourth in a heat that included American star Noah Lyles.

De Grasse said after the race he had to overcome “a lot of rust.”

“First 200 in three months, so kind of took a little bit out of me,” he said. “I think the first 1

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