De Grasse sprints to gold, record in 200 metres
Canada takes gold in men’s basketball, bronze in women’s field hockey
Canadian sprint sensation Andre De Grasse laid down another stunning performance on 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 sub10 in the 100 metres and sub-20 in the 200.
Running blind out of Lane 8, amid a world-class field, De Grasse battled down the home stretch 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.
The Canadian sprint sensation has burst onto the international scene this season with a series of eye-popping 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.
There was more glory for the country later on as Canada will go for men’s basketball gold after defeating the United States 111108 in an overtime thriller Friday.
The Canadians, who have never finished better than fourth at the Games, needed a rousing fourthquarter comeback and overtime charge to dispose of the Americans. They will be hoping to join the Canadian women atop the Pan Am medal podium.
Canada will play Brazil, which downed the Dominican Republic 68-62 in the earlier semifinal. Both finalists are 4-0.
The game went to overtime at 97-97 after Canadian Jamal Murray’s last-ditch shot missed.
The U.S. led 97-94 with 50 seconds remaining thanks to a Bobby Brown bucket. Murray, an 18-year-old Kentucky recruit, calmly sank a three-pointer to tie the game and the Canadian defence stopped the U.S. in their tracks. Murray had eight points in overtime to seal the deal. Brown missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game.
It was a roller-coaster game that saw the Americans pull ahead in the third to lead 80-74 going into the final quarter.
But Canada clawed its way back with an 11-2 run that saw Murray score nine points, much to the delight of the raucous crowd at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
An Anthony Bennett dunk put Canada ahead 92-91 with less than three minutes remaining. A Bennett block at the other end also helped. Andrew Nicholson led Canada with 31 points.
Brown led the U.S. with 25 points while Anthony Randolph added 21.
Also, Canada added two bronze medals on Friday night to bring its medal total up to 191, with 70 gold, 63 silver and 58 bronze.
The United States sits atop the medal standings with 89 golds, 72 silvers and 73 bronze.
Brienne Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., scored the winning goal as Canada beat Chile 1-0 in the women’s field hockey bronzemedal game.
Genevieve Lalonde of Moncton, N.B., also earned a bronze, finishing the women’s 3,000-metre steeplechase in nine minutes 53.03 seconds. American Ashley Higginson (9:48.12) won gold, while Shalaya Kipp took silver in 9:49.96.
Winnipeg’s Erin Teschuk was fourth in 10:02.33.