Sprinter De Grasse in no rush about future

Canadian star deciding between staying at USC or turning professional

“I’ve just got to put my mind to it and feel confident I can go out there and beat these guys.” CANADA’S ANDRE DE GRASSE ON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Canadian sprint star Andre De Grasse has a summer of decisions ahead of him.

The 20-year-old from Markham, who has made a meteoric rise up the world rankings this season, hasn’t decided whether he’ll return for his senior year at the University of Southern California or turn professional.

His Canadian coach Tony Sharpe has been fielding calls from agents, and a source told The Canadian Press that De Grasse has been offered a seven-figure shoe deal.

“I’m still discussing that with my coaches,” De Grasse said on a conference call Thursday.

“I believe it’s best he stay (in school) because he’s so new,” said Caryl Smith Gilbert, his USC coach. “But we did talk about it, the other side of things, and ultimately it’s up to him and what he wants to do.”

De Grasse, first spotted by Sharpe at a high school meet three years ago in Toronto, has reeled off one eyepopping result after another this season. He broke the Canadian recordin the 200, and became the first Canadian since Bruny Surin in 1999 to dip under the 10-second mark in the 100.

And then last weekend in Eugene, Ore., he blew away the field in both the 100 and 200 metres — which were less than 45 minutes apart — at the NCAA championships.

While his times of 9.75 and 19.58 were both wind-aided, being slightly over the allowable 2.0 metres-per-second tailwind, they rank as the fastest wind-aided times in the world this year.

Now he has his sights set on next month’s Pan Am Games, where he’ll try to become the first Canadian to run a sub-10 and sub-20 in the same meet if the conditions are right and the wind is legal. A month later he’ll go up against superstars Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin in the100 metres at the world championships in Beijing.

“I feel like I can be competitive with these guys,” De Grasse said.

“I’ve just got to put my mind to it and feel confident that I can go out there and beat these guys. I can’t be afraid of them just because they are gold medallists. I have to go out there and try to make a name for myself as well.”

He’ll also take aim at the16-year-old Canadian record of 9.84, shared by Surin and Donovan Bailey.

De Grasse won’t run the 200 at the world championships, coming at the end of a very long season.