Shota Iizuka defied the odds to capture Japan's first-ever sprint gold medal at a World Junior Championships Friday night when he won the 200 meters against tough competition in this eastern Canadian city.

A false start in the qualifying rounds Thursday claimed ones of the top contenders, Dexter Lee of Jamaica, who had already won the 100 meters sprint for the second IAAF junior championship in a row. Iizuka had set a personal best in the qualifiers and had set the IAAF season best time.

He got off to a great start in the final race, seemed to let up a bit in the stretch, but turned it on in the home stretch to win a decisive victory over Aliaksandr Linnik of Belarus. Hometown favorite Aaron Brown of Canada also ran strongly in the home stretch to edge past South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk.

"I'm feeling amazing. Just one word - amazing," Iizuka said after the race. "This is the greatest opportunity I've ever had, to run in such a prestigious competition, so I just tried to do my best. For me, I was almost trying to intimidate the others, so for me it was fun. I was confident."

He said his strategy was to maintain his stamina and just do his best. "Don't hesitate, just focus," he said. "Until the last day of competition, our team will just fly through it - just go for it."

"I'm running for the relay. And then after that, hopefully the Olympics," he added.

Linnik, the silver medalist, said he was satisfied with his second-place finish. He plans to run in the European junior championship next summer.

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