CANADA’S DE GRASSE DOES IT IN THE 200
Thrilling race ends with Canadian leaning for the line
Running out of Lane 8, Canada’s Andre De Grasse, left, battled down the homestretch to outlean Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer and Panama’s Alonso Edward at the finish line on Friday, taking the gold medal in the 200 metres at the Pan Am Games in a Canadian record time of 19.88.
Canadian sprint sensation Andre De Grasse laid down another stunning performance Friday.
The 20-year-old from Markham, Ont., shattered his own Canadian 200-metre record to win gold at the Pan American Games.
De Grasse crossed in 19.88 seconds, beating his previous mark of 20.03 to become the first Canadian in history to run both a sub-10, in the 100 metres, and sub-20 in the 200.
“It’s amazing. It feels so unreal right now,” said De Grasse. “I can’t believe I did it. Somehow I just managed to pull it off. I’m really happy about this.”
Running blind out of Lane 8, amid a world-class field, De Grasse battled down the homestretch to outlean Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer and Panama’s Alonso Edward at the finish line.
Dwyer and Edward crossed in 19.90 — Dwyer taking the silver and Edward the bronze.
De Grasse won the 100 metres on Wednesday night in 10.05.
His performance led of another strong night at the Pan Am track. Nathan Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., won silver in the 1,500 metres, while Charles Philibert-Thiboutot of Quebec City won the bronze.
Genevieve Lalonde of Moncton, N.B., raced to bronze in the women’s 3,000-metre steeplechase.
De Grasse, meanwhile, has burst onto the international scene this season with a series of eyepopping results. He broke the Canadian record in the 200 — 20.03 — before breaking his own mark on Friday.
He also became the first Canadian in 15 years to break the 10-second barrier in the 100.
He’s coming off an NCAA season that saw him sweep the 100 and 200 titles.
Canada sits at 71 gold medals, 63 silver and 59 bronze, second best at the games with 193 medals total. The United States leads the medal standings with 89 golds, 72 silvers and 73 bronze.
Canada also won gold in boxing as Toronto’s Arthur Biyarslanov won the men’s light welterweight final with a split decision over Cuba’s Yasnier Toledo.
Ringside judges scored the bout 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 in Biyarslanov’s favour.
“It feels awesome. It was my goal to win gold for Canada, so I’m very happy,” said Biyarslanov. “Canada hasn’t won a gold in men’s boxing for over 30 years, so I’m glad to have broken that and won a gold for Canada.”
Also, Brienne Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., scored the winning goal as Canada beat Chile 1-0 in the women’s field hockey bronze-medal game.
Montreal’s Patrice Boily-Martineau won bronze in men’s 75-kilogram karate.
Also, the United States defeated Canada 5-2 to advance to the championship game in women’s softball.