Andre De Grasse, of Canada, wins the final in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ashley Landis
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, July 24, 2022 8:23AM EDT Last Updated Sunday, July 24, 2022 8:23AM EDT |
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Andre De Grasse made quite the return to the track after his withdrawal from the worlds 200-metre event — a very golden one at that.
Anchoring a team with Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney, the Canadians set a national record and world-leading time of 37.48 seconds en route to gold in the men's 4x100m relay at the world track and field championships on Saturday. "(This is) all we talked about — (us) actually having a great shot at being on top of the podium," De Grasse said. "This year, I think with a lot of us being more fresh — myself, running like six races and then Brendon coming in for the relay, I think that also helped us. Just being able to practise the relay more and being able to go out there and have that team chemistry." The Americans grabbed silver (37.55), while Great Britain claimed bronze (37.83). The gold was Canada's third medal of the world championships. |
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De Grasse, lined up side-by-side with American Marvin Bracy, the silver medallist from the 100m, when receiving their batons, put his stamp on the final with his signature closing speed.
The Markham, Ont., native contracted COVID-19 just a month back and did not qualify for the 100m final before pulling his name out of the 200m competition. It seemed to do wonders for the 27-year-old, along with what felt like a home crowd cheering the team on. "It's special. There's a lot of Canadian flags out there, a lot of fans cheering us on — it definitely feels good. It's not technically on home soil but it kind of felt like it." De Grasse wasn't the only one to have been dealing with the effects of COVID-19. Athletics Canada coach Glenroy Gilbert had to coach the team through Zoom having contracted the virus himself recently. Despite all that's happened, continuity and team chemistry has become the name of the game for the Canadian squad. "We've run together at the Olympics last year — we have the same team. This year, with our head coach going down … It was one of those things where we trust ourselves and open the marks up a little bit and give us some wiggle room to work with," Blake said. "That was the most important thing — to just get the stick moving. Once we have the stick moving, (it) doesn't slow down." --------ADVERTISEMENT--------
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