RETURN OF DE GRASSE
Jerome awaits Olympian
The unruly mob descended on Andre De Grasse not with torches and pitchforks, but with pens and praise.
The Olympic sprinter, whose relatively pedestrian winning time of 10.17 seconds in the men’s 100 metres was enough to spark the fan pandemonium at last year’s Harry Jerome track meet, was engulfed by autograph- and selfie-seeking fans young and old at Percy Perry Stadium.
“It was close to a riot mob last year. We were lucky nothing happened,” said meet president Doug Clement. “(But) he loved it. His handlers — his agent and coaches and so on — were very concerned. But he was very relaxed and enjoyedit.
“I don’t think he had full understanding of the riot-like nature around him. … He is a rock star.”
De Grasse will return this year for his third consecutive visit to the Jerome, which will move back to Burnaby ’s Swangard Stadium on June 26 and 27. About 3,000 fans took in last year’s one-day event in Coquitlam, but organizers are expecting up to 5,000 each night this season.
“He values (the Jerome) strongly. He really has a genuine desire to try to connect with the public and build the interest in track and field,” said Clement. “He’s an usually natural person who wants to do this.
“It’s not like some pro sports, where you see a reluctance in them to interact with their fans. That’s not the case with Andre. He firmly believes in the participation of sport being a positive influence of sport on young people. It strikes me that when you start looking at any sport that falls within the Olympic area, outside of the professional sports that are so popular in North America, he seems to be the one athlete who has been able to capture the imagination of Canadians.”
His ascension was hitched to the star of Usain Bolt, when the two sprinters had a magical and affable duel at the 2016 Rio Olympics that entertained the world. He won silver in the 200 metres and bronze in the 4x100-metre relay and 100 metres, becoming the first Canadian sprinter to win three medals at a single Games.
After a strong run of results in the Diamond League heading into the world championships, he was poised to face his fremesis one final time before suffering a hamstring strain in training days before the event. The 23-year-old Markham, Ont., native hadn’t run a competitive race since July 16 in Morocco before last week’s Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
He clocked a 10.15 for a fourthplace finish and was happy with the result after an extended recovery period that ended when he resumed training in December.
“That’s the fastest opener I’ve ever had in the opening race in the season. For me, it’s all about coming out healthy. Now there are no limits for my next race,” he told The Canadian Press.
“(The year-long break) gave me a little bit more time to recover, not push myself as hard with the hamstring injury I had in August, so I had some time to ease back into training and not push myself too hard too early.
“But as of right now I’ve been fortunate that things have gone well these past couple of months; continue to keep doing the right thing, recovering, nutrition, just making sure I take care of my body in the right way so it doesn’t happen again.”
Next up is the first Diamond League meet of the season, where De Grasse will be running in Friday’s 200 metres against world champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey, 2017 Diamond League champion Noah Lyles of the U.S., and world bronze medallist Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s a good start and it will be very exciting to see what happens Friday,” said Clement.
“It’ll be a test by fire. He’s not taking an easy entry into this; he’s getting right back on the horse.”
The Harry Jerome is just one of three domestic stops for De Grasse, who trains in the U.S. and travels to the Diamond League events around the world.
He’ll be at the Canadian track championships in July, as well as the NACAC Championships in Toronto in August.
First up are three Diamond League events in May and two in June before the Jerome.
His main goal this season is winning the overall Diamond League title and maybe bettering the 100-metre Canadian record of 9.84 held jointly by Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.
“It’s been on my radar for a while,” De Grasse said.
It was close to a riot mob last year. We were lucky nothing happened. DOUG CLEMENT, Harry Jerome track meet president