Andre De Grasse
Andre De Grasse is a Canadian sprinter. A seven-time Olympic medallist, De Grasse is the 2020 Olympic champion in the 200 m, and also won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4 × 100 relay in 2020. He also has three Olympic bronze medals, placing third in the 100 m at both the 2016 and 2020 Games, and also in the 4 × 100 m relay in 2016. De Grasse won his second Olympic gold medal as a part of the 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The win tied him with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada's most decorated Olympians of all time.
At the World Athletics Championships, De Grasse won a gold medal with the Canadian 4 × 100 relay team in 2022, as well as a bronze medal in the same event in 2015. He has three individual World medals, winning silver in the 200 m in 2019 in Doha, and two bronzes in the 100 m in 2015 and 2019. He was also the double Pan American champion and the NCAA champion in the 100 m and 200 m. He is the current Canadian record holder in the 200 m, running a 19.62 in Tokyo and making him the eleventh fastest man in history over 200 m.
De Grasse is the first Canadian sprinter to win three medals in a single Olympics, bettering the two medals in a single Olympics that were won by Canadian sprinters Donovan Bailey, Ben Johnson, Percy Williams, Hilda Strike, Bobbie Rosenfeld and Robert Kerr. His gold medal finish at the 2020 Olympics was the first Canadian Olympic gold in track in 25 years and the first in the 200 m in 93 years. A consistent podium finisher, he won a medal in every Olympic and World Championship final he competed in from 2015 until the 2023 World Championships.
Early life
De Grasse was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. His mother, Beverley De Grasse, was a high school sprinter in Trinidad and Tobago before she moved to Canada at age 26. His father, Alexander Waithe, moved from Barbados to Canada as a teenager.De Grasse was raised in Markham, Ontario and attended St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic Elementary School from kindergarten to grade two. He later transferred to Mother Teresa Catholic School in Markham, Ont. to continue until grade eight, where he won his first race in 2006. He also attended Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy and Milliken Mills High School.
In high school, De Grasse initially played basketball, at one point playing against future NBA player Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan Secondary School. In his first high school track race, the York Region Championships, De Grasse ran wearing basketball shorts and borrowed spikes; he also ignored the starting blocks and did a standing start. Despite his clear inexperience, he finished second in the 100 m final with 10.91, third overall in the 200 m with 22.64, and 7th overall in the Long Jump with 5.88m. He was spotted by future coach Tony Sharpe who noticed his impressive results compensating for the lack of starting blocks and proper racing attire. Sharpe invited De Grasse to join Pickering's Speed Academy. All three events were won by his eventual Olympic teammate Bolade Ajomale of Alexander Mackenzie High School. Having finished in the top 4 in the 100 m and 200 m, De Grasse qualified for the Ontario Central Championships, where he finished 4th in the 100 m and 10th overall in the 200 m. Finally, having qualified for the Ontario Championships in the 100 m, De Grasse placed 5th in the final. He then began to train under Sharpe at The Speed Academy.
At the 2013 Canada Games, De Grasse won three gold medals in the 100, 200, and 4 × 100-metre relay.
Collegiate career
He attended Coffeyville Community College in 2013 and 2014 before transferring to USC for his junior season in 2015.Competing for USC, De Grasse's legal 100 m time of 9.97 won the Pac-12 championship in May 2015, and was the first time he ran under 10 seconds, becoming the first Canadian to do so since Bruny Surin. In the 200 m, De Grasse broke the Canadian record with 20.03, and closed on it again with 20.05 in the final. De Grasse nabbed global attention at the NCAA Championships by winning both the 100 and 200 metres ahead of favourite Trayvon Bromell of Baylor University with wind-aided times of 9.75 and 19.58, respectively. After the race, with encouragement from his friends to keep going in the pursuit of titles, he said "So I ask myself...world champion? Olympic champion? Why not me? I've come this far, and I've only scratched the surface. I want to keep it going. Track is fun to me, and as long as it stays this way, I expect to keep getting better."
Athletics career
2015 season
2015 Pan American Games
After winning the national 100 m title with a personal best of 9.95, De Grasse's next major event was the 2015 Pan American Games held in his home province of Ontario. He won the gold medal in the 100 m with a time of 10.05. After the race, De Grasse said of the home crowd that "Aw, it was great. I think they gave me an extra boost of energy; the crowd was amazing; I hear them cheering my name and screaming my name." De Grasse doubled and won gold in the 200 m with a new national record of 19.88. De Grasse became the first Canadian in history to run both a sub-10 in the 100 metres and sub-20 in the 200. He appeared to win a third Pan Am Games gold when he ran the second leg of the 4 x 100 m relay, in which the Canadian team came first in the race with a Games record of 38.06. However, the team was later disqualified two hours after the race for a lane infringement by Gavin Smellie.2015 World Championships
The 2015 World Championships in Athletics took place in Beijing. At the event, De Grasse cruised through his heat in 9.99, then made headlines when he nearly beat Usain Bolt, who stumbled out of the blocks. The two clocked 9.96, with Bolt just thousandths ahead. In the final, De Grasse tied for the bronze medal with Bromell, running a new personal best of 9.92. He became the first Canadian to win a medal in track's marquee event since Bruny Surin raced to silver in 1999. After the final De Grasse said "I didn't know who had won the race, I didn't know you could actually tie with someone for a bronze medal. So I am very happy for Trayvon and proud of myself to come away with a personal best. To race against these guys and make the final, I couldn't end the season any better than that. I can't let distract me. At the end of the day, it's the 100 m final. This was the biggest race of my life, so I wasn't going to think about no lane assignment. I had a lot of confidence after the semi-finals, being that close to Bolt, and that raised my confidence for the final." De Grasse also participated in the 4 × 100 m relay, where he won a second bronze medal, running a 38.13 together with Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Justyn Warner.De Grasse turned professional in December 2015, signing with Puma for $11.25 million.
2016 season
De Grasse got a rocky start in the 2016 season, finishing 8th at the Prefontaine Classic. However, he shook off the race rust in June and won the 200 m in Birmingham and the 100 m in Oslo. He defended his national 100 m title in 9.99, his first sub-10 of the season, and qualified for Canada's Olympic team. He also qualified for the 200 m, albeit finishing 3rd at the championships behind Rodney and Brown.2016 Summer Olympics
De Grasse entered the Rio Olympics carrying Canada's hopes as a medallist. He advanced to the finals of the 100 m with ease after running a time of 10.04 in his heat and then equaling his personal best of 9.92 in the semi-finals. He impressed many by staying level with Usain Bolt during their semifinal and even appeared to mimic the world record holder, the two Puma sponsorees crossing the line together with smiles. De Grasse won the bronze medal in the final in 9.91 seconds, a new personal best, behind Bolt and his main rival Justin Gatlin. He became the first male athlete to win a medal for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics. De Grasse's medal sparked talk of him being Bolt's heir apparent in the athletics world, a claim that Bolt supported:After that, De Grasse said of his relationship with Bolt, "We were just having some fun. Me and Usain met back in January, we did a lot of things together. He feels like I'm the next one, and now I'm just trying to live up to it." Former Canadian Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey was seen jumping up and down in the CBC Sports studio, cheering on De Grasse. After, he said, "I'm shaking. This is great for track and field in Canada."
In the 200 m, De Grasse had the fastest time in the heats of 20.09. De Grasse and Bolt were again lined up beside each other in the semi-finals. Bolt led at halfway when De Grasse suddenly rushed to his shoulder, appearing to try to beat him. The two exchanged smiles and crossed the line together, one of the most iconic moments of the games. De Grasse claimed his strategy was to tire Bolt out before the final, which Bolt did not appear to appreciate. De Grasse's time of 19.80 was a new Canadian record, and he became the first Canadian to make it to the finals of the 200 m since Atlee Mahorn at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Despite his tactic, De Grasse finished behind Bolt again, this time with the silver medal in 20.02, the first Canadian to win a medal in the 200 m since Percy Williams at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.
De Grasse ran the anchor for the finals of the 4 x 100 m relay. Initially in 6th place, De Grasse made an incredible close on Japan and the United States by about 4 metres, though he narrowly missed the bronze medal by 0.02 seconds. Despite this, the Canadians set a new national record of 37.64 seconds, breaking the record set in 1996 in Atlanta. However, the American team that placed third was disqualified for a zone violation at the first baton change, so the Canadians were awarded the bronze medal.