Speedster won OFSAA sprint titles in 1998

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A veteran North York native has qualified for his third straight Olympic Games.

And once again Pierre Browne, a former student at Victoria Park Collegiate Institute, will head to the Olympics as a Canadian champion.

Browne won the 100-metre championship last weekend at the Canadian track and field championships (and Olympic trials) in Windsor in a time of 10.19 seconds, which was a record for the University of Windsor stadium.

It was the third national 100m title for Browne, who also achieved similar honours in 2006 and in 2004, prior to attending the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

In Athens, Browne placed 18th in the 100m event with a quarterfinal time of 10.21 seconds. He joined the Canadian relay team that did not make it out of the opening heat.

In 2000, Browne also competed in the Sydney Olympics, in the 200m event (he did not advance from the preliminary heat) as well as the 4x100m relay (Canada made it to the semifinals). He qualified for that Olympics by winning his only Canadian 200m title.

In 1998, while at Victoria Park CI, he became the undisputed fastest high school student in the province, as he won both the 100m and 200m sprints at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) track and field championships.

Browne's personal best over 100m is 9.98 seconds.