Brown can’t deliver Canada’s 1st medal
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | 10:31 PM ET
CBC Sports
Canada’s Olympic medal drought continues.
Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., couldn’t capture Canada’s first hardware of the Beijing Games on Thursday, finishing fourth in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke.
Swimming in Lane 5 at the National Aquatics Centre, the 24-year-old Brown touched the wall in a time of two minutes 9.03 seconds, missing the podium by just 9-100ths of a second.
Kosuke Kitajima of Japan won the gold in an Olympic-record 2:07.64. Australia’s Brenton Rickard claimed the silver in 2:08.88, and Hugues Duboscq of France edged Brown for the bronze in 2:08.94.
Considered Canada’s last real chance for a swimming medal in Beijing, Brown didn’t save his best performance for the final. The Canadian-record 2:08.84 he clocked in the semifinals would have won him the silver on Thursday.
Brown’s fourth-place finish means Curtis Myden remains the last Canadian to win an Olympic swimming medal. The Calgarian took bronze in the 400 individual medley at the 2000 Sydney Games.
