Newman matches Canadian pole vault record at Diamond League

Canada's Alysha Newman. (Matt Dunham/AP)

BRUSSELS — Alysha Newman of London, Ont., matched her own Canadian record as she won bronze in the women’s pole vault on Friday at the Van Damme Memorial.

Newman cleared 4.75 metres, equalling the height she made at the 19th International Pole Vault Meeting in Beckum, Germany, on Sunday.

Greece’s Katerina Stefandi won gold with a height of 4.85 metres and American Sandi Morris (4.75) won silver.

Also on Friday, Toronto’s Aaron Brown finished fourth in the men’s 200 metres. He ran a season-best 20.17-second race.

American Noah Lyles took gold in 20 seconds flat and Ameer Webb, also from the United States, finished 0.01 seconds off the winning time. Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev was third (20.02).

Brown had been disqualified at the world championships for a lane violation.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo won her second Diamond League final in as many weeks, setting a world leading time in the 400 metres to add to her 200 title.

It also gave the Bahamian $100,000 for her two victories.

After a disappointing world championships, where she stubbed her foot when leading in the 400 home straight before falling out of the medals, she got her revenge Friday.

Despite the cold and wet conditions following torrential rains, Miller-Uibo finished in 49.46 seconds, to beat the year’s previous best time set by Allyson Felix by .19 seconds. Salwa Eid Naser also beat the 50-second mark and set a Bahraini record of 49.88.

Miller-Uibo won the final of the 200 in a national record at the Zurich Weltklasse last week.

Earlier, Yohan Blake won the 100 metres, beating Michael Rodgers of the United States and fellow-Jamaican Julian Forte.

In the absence of recently retired Usain Bolt and world champion Justin Gatlin, 2011 world champion Blake rekindled some old form for a rare win, finishing in a modest 10.02 seconds as runners were slowed by the rain and cold at the King Baudouin Stadium.

Rodgers finished in 10.09 and Forte had 10.12.

On a tough night for athletes, Ivana Spanovic of Serbia won the long jump with 6.70 metres on her last attempt, sweeping past Lorraine Ugen of Britain, who missed out by 5 centimetres. World champion Brittney Reese of the United States finished only fifth.

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