Bronze for Canada after U.S. disqualified
RIO DE JANEIRO — Just like American presidential hopeful Donald Trump, Andre De Grasse is promising to make his country great again — at least when it comes to sprinting at the Olympics.
He’s not doing it so much with his words, but his impressive actions. And unlike Trump, he actually might be able to do it.
The 21-year-old from Markham, Ont., isn’t quite there yet — so far he has just made his country really, really good again — but he’s got plenty of time to build on what he’s started.
De Grasse will leave the 2016 Olympics in Rio with three medals — a silver and two bronze — after helping Canada to a thirdplace finish in the 4x100-metre relay Friday night at Olympic Stadium.
The Canadians looked to have missed the podium by two onehundredths of a second and were just four one-hundredths out of a silver medal when the race ended, but the United States was disqualified for an illegal baton pass.
Once again the legendary Usain Bolt and his Jamaican teammates got the better of DeGrasse and the Canadians — and everybody else — running to their third straight gold medal in the relay with a time of 37.27 and giving Bolt nine for his stunning collection.
Japan surprised everyone by taking the silver at 37.60 and Canada came in at 37.64.
DeGrasse made up ground while running the final leg after Akeem Haynes, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney, but couldn’t quite catch up.
“I felt myself gaining on the U.S. and the Japanese, I just ran out of room,” DeGrasse told CBC.
Regardless of the colour of medal, the big picture looks beautiful for Canada.
Not since Donovan Bailey and Company claimed a relay gold to go along with his win in the 100-metres in 1996 has Canada had this kind of success in the sprints on the track.
The Canadians showed they are a present and future danger to any sprinters who have eyes on podiums in 2020 and 2024.
Bolt is 29 and doesn’t seem sold on the idea of coming back for another Olympics. Justin Gatlin, who was part of the disqualified U.S. team, is 34.
Come 2020, DeGrasse could be the favourite for the 100 and 200 in Tokyo, and that is something no Canadian has ever been able to say before.
Just look at his resume for evidence that he is the “Next One” in the world of track.
Two golds at the Pan Am Games in 2015, two bronze at the world championships the same year, silver and two bronze here. He’s the reigning NCAA champion in both the 100 and 200, competing for University of Southern California.
If the king does indeed abdicate his throne after these Games, DeGrasse could be the one to claim it.
What more is there to say about the super-human known as Usain Bolt. What more does he need to do?
He has three gold medals in each of the last three Olympics and has shown no signs of relinquishing his title of “fastest man alive.”
Surely he would rather retire now than risk losing that title in 2020 at the age of 33.
He wants to be remembered in the same breath as Pele and Muhammad Ali and he’s certainly done all he can to achieve that goal.
On Friday the Canadian team had to exorcise a few ghosts that have been haunting the athletics program in recent years to win the bronze medal.
Back in 2012, Canada looked to have bronze locked up in the relay in London, but the team was disqualified after Jared Connaughton stepped out of his lane.
None of the runners from that 2012 race are here in Rio, but some members of this team were part of a Canadian squad that looked to have won gold at the Pan Am Games last year in Toronto. That squad too, was disqualified, when Gavin Smellie stepped on the line.
This time it was the Canadians turn to benefit from another team’s mistake.
While they weren’t able to keep up with the Japanese or Bolt and the Jamaicans, the Canadians finally had the medal they celebrated for a few minutes four years ago and then lost.
DeGrasse had his third medal, the start of a collection he hopes will include a gold or two — or even more than that — before he’s 30.
CLEVELAND — Tyler Naquin hit a game-ending inside-the-park homer, sprinting around the bases to cap a two-run rally in the ninth inning as the Cleveland Indians stunned the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Friday night.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead into the ninth in a matchup of AL division leaders. Closer Roberto Osuna (22) retired the first batter, but Jose Ramirez tied it with a home run.
Naquin followed with a drive that hit the top of the right-field wall, above the leap of Michael Saunders. The ball caromed away at an angle and centre fielder Melvin Upton Jr. gave chase as Naquin rounded second base.
Upton finally retrieved the ball, but fell down as third base coach Mike Sarbaugh waved Naquin home. Upton flung it toward the infield, and Naquin stumbled home and scored with a head-first dive way ahead of second baseman Devon Travis’ relay.
The Indians poured from the dugout to mob Naquin. On Thursday night, Naquin lofted a sacrifice fly as a pinch-hitter in the ninth to lift Cleveland over the White Sox.