Fans mob De Grasse after his 100-metre dash win
Metres after crossing the finish line Wednesday night with the nearly mortal 100-metre time of 10.17 seconds, Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse was chased down and swarmed by hundreds of young track athletes.
Diane Clement, the petite and determined sports pioneer she is, ushered De Grasse through the throng to reach the grandstand where he was interviewed about his victory.
Even before it all started, the crowd waited patiently but notso-silently for the final race of the Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome Track Classic, their hushed anticipation bursting at the seams as De Grasse took his lane and waved to the 1,400-capacity crowd at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam.
Simply put, he said the whole thing was fun. And since he’s now starring on a world stage alongside international champions, he said he was ready for the extra attention this time around.
“I expected it this year. Last year I was a little bit overwhelmed, but this year it was amazing, just incredible.
“I’m a little speechless about how it happened,” said De Grasse about the happy mob once he’d signed his autograph for the granddaughter of Harry Jerome and was under the media tent talking with reporters, with hundreds of kids still waiting to meet him.
“I admire these kids. They are working hard, and I can’t believe I’m inspiring them to do the sport,” he said.
De Grasse understands role models. The sprinter who clocked the fourth fastest (albeit wind-assisted) time in recorded history earlier this month stood to claim the meet benchmark, set at 9.91 seconds in 1997 by Canadian sprint legend Donovan Bailey.
The Olympic bronze and silver medallist caught the attention of the world as he simultaneously became the apple of Usain Bolt’s gilded eye. At the Rio Summer Olympics they shared a podium in the 100m and 200m, a Canadian sprint success that placed De Grasse in the elite company of this country’s most exciting track stars, past and present.
The budding friendship between elder statesman Bolt and young upstart De Grasse was as much bromance as it was healthy rivalry, though there was never any doubt who would run away with the victory.
Indeed, Bolt, who has won all the major titles you could name, said he is keen to see who will take over his crown as fastest man down the stretch once he retires at the end of this season.
“There are a lot of young stars coming up,” he said this week before racing in the Czech Republic at the Golden Spike. “It’s exciting to see who is really going to step up to be a champion.”
De Grasse is certainly in the running. On the eve of the Harry Jerome Track Classic, he said he accepts the challenge and, although seven years younger than Bolt, isn’t afraid of taking a run at the eighttime Olympic gold-medal sprinter.
“He’s still the man to beat,” De Grasse said of the fastest man on the planet, both who are sponsored by Puma.
The 22-year-old from Markham, Ont. returned Tuesday to race in Canada after consecutive wins in Diamond League meets, including a blistering performance in Stockholm on June 18 when he clocked the fastest time this year in the distance and the whole field that day realized “fantasy figures” in the words off the IAAF.
He won in 9.69 seconds, though the highlight-reel times were all wind-assisted. His recognized personal best is 9.91 seconds. He’s still shy of the Canadian record of 9.84. He’s still young, too.
“That’s the fastest I’ve ever run, it’s going to be a shock to the body,” he said after the blitz performance. “I’m just looking forward to the next race and see what I can do legally.”
One of De Grasse’s next showings will come at the Canadian championships, starting July 3 in Ottawa. He is expected to race the 100m and 200m.
In other notable results from the Harry Jerome Track Classic, numerous Canadian national team athletes earned wins and up-andcomers also made their mark.
Liz Gleadle defended her title in the javelin, throwing 59.44 metres. Damian Warner smoked the field in the men’s 110m hurdles, with Vancouver College senior Anastas Eliopuolos also putting in a solid performance. Warner also won the long jump with a leap of 7.48 metres.
Zion Corrales Nelson, a Burnaby track prospect now training in California and racing for the Philippines’ national team, won the 200m and finished second in the 100m.
Ben Thorne out-stepped Evan Dunfee in the race walk over the unusual distance of a mile, with both racers clocking what might be the fastest two times in the country.
In a preview for Ottawa in the women’s 800m, Melissa Bishop ran a 2:00.11 to win by a significant margin but fell just shy of breaking her own meet record, set last year.