First place yet again
De Grasse wins third 100 metre title at Canadian track and field championships
Andre De Grasse captured his third 100-metre title at the Canadian track and field championships on Friday, crossing in 10.11 seconds.
The triple medallist from last summer’s Rio Olympics had been hoping to run a sub-10 in his final 100 before the next month’s world championships, but the conditions were a bit too chilly for fast times.
Brendon Rodney of Toronto was second in 10.18, while Gavin Smellie of Brampton, Ont., crossed third in 10.23.
De Grasse got lots of love from the fans that packed the grandstand at Terry Fox Stadium. They cheered loudly when he ran down the straightaway in his warmup. The grinning De Grasse raised his arms to encourage the cheering.
The 22-year-old from Markham, Ont., had cruised to an easy win in his semifinal earlier in the night, crossing in 10.13 on a track still slick from an earlier thunderstorm.
Aaron Brown of Toronto, who boasts a personal best of 9.94, was disqualified for a false start
in his semifinal, but ran under protest with hopes of launching an appeal.
Crystal Emmanuel of Toronto won the women’s 100 in 11.20,
which was under the world championship qualifying standard - hollering “Yes!’’ several times after crossing the finish line.
De Grasse’s personal best is the 9.91 he ran to win bronze at last summer’s Rio Olympics. He ran his fastest time this season - 10.01 - to win the Diamond League meet in Oslo, Norway last month. He followed that up with a blistering, but windaided, 9.69 to win the Stockholm Diamond League last month.
The Canadian record of 9.84 is co-held by Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.
De Grasse will also run the 200 at the national championships, which determine the team for next month’s world track and field championships in London. De Grasse will have one last shot to upset Usain Bolt at the worlds - the Jamaican superstar will retire after the meet.
A thunderstorm rolled in just prior to the scheduled start time, delaying several field events. But optimistic fans still squeezed into the grandstand under a virtual tarp of dozens of umbrellas, staking out their spots as they waited for the storm to pass.
Agnes Esser of McBride, B.C., threw 50.95 metres to win the women’s discus, while Adam Karakolis of Toronto won the men’s discus with a throw of 52.65.
World silver medallist Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., ran a relaxed 2:03.80 to win her 800 semifinal.