Aaron Evans believes he got his race strategy wrong after finishing sixth in the 800 metres finals at the Pan Am Games last night.

Evans allowed himself to fall too far behind during the middle stages of the race and was never able to recover, and finished in a time of 1min 49.07sec.

The 25-year-old admits he simply misjudged the pace of the race and was punished by a top-class field in front of another near sell-out CIBC Pan Am Athletics Stadium at York University.

“I’m kind of disappointed with the race that I ran,” Evans said. “I should have kept closer contact with the other runners. I was thinking the race was faster than it was and I was giving guys space that I shouldn’t have.

“I just couldn’t gain the ground that I gave up in the end.”

Evans, who is based in Eugene, Oregon, felt a podium finish could have been within his grasp had he run a smarter race.

Clayton Murphy, of the United States, won the gold medal in 1:47.19, with Rafith Rodriguez, of Colombia, second in 1:47.23 and Ryan Martin, of the United States, third in 1:47.73.

“There are things I wish I could have done differently,” Evans said.

“I was right behind [Martin] after 250 metres and then I accidentally stepped on him a little bit.

“I then gave him some room and between 400 and 600 people started making a bit of a push. I stayed and backed off because I was thinking I would need that in my last 100.

“You just can’t do that against guys at this level of competition.”

Evans revealed he had been nursing a foot injury during the build-up to the Games, which he believed impacted upon his performance.

“I didn’t have the best build-up to the Games,” said Evans, who is scheduled to compete at the Nacac Senior Championships in Costa Rica next month.

“I was diagnosed with a stress reaction in my right foot. When I’m not on the track I’m in a compression boot.

“Other than that, it was a tactical error that stopped me from being in the medals.

“I wanted more and I wanted to medal. This is not a part-time thing for me; this is my job.”

Meanwhile, Tre Houston missed out on qualifying for the 200 metres semi-finals after finishing fourth in his heat yesterday.

Houston’s time of 21sec was not quick enough for him to advance as one of the four fastest non-qualifiers and compete in the semi-finals in the afternoon.

The 25-year-old, whose personal best is 20.42, will now turn his attention to next month’s World Championships in Beijing. He has already qualified for next year’s Rio Olympics.

“I’m a little disappointed with my performance, but it definitely lets me know where I stand after being injured,” said Houston, who missed the entire indoor season with an Achilles injury.

“But I will definitely be read to go at the World Championships.”