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Andre De Grasse eyes 100m gold: “I don’t want to wait, I want to do it now”

Canada's Andre De Grasse looked smooth in the opening heats of the men's 100m on Saturday and he says he wants to win gold.

Andre De Grasse
August 13, 2016
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Andre De Grasse is not shy about his expectations at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The 21-year-old wants to win gold in the 100m on Sunday instead of waiting for his chance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I came out here to try to win gold and I’m a competitor,” De Grasse said after his opening race at the Olympics. “I have a good chance to take down these guys. I’m not going to wait until 2020, I want to do it now.”

RELATED: Worth watching: “Andre De Grasse’s Road to Rio” mini doc.

The Canadian sprint star took his first step towards Olympic glory on Saturday morning with an easy win in the heats of the men’s 100m. He ran 10.04 to win heat four and advances to the semifinals of the 100m, set for Sunday morning. The men’s final is Sunday night at 9:25 p.m. EDT.

De Grasse’s race

De Grasse, a two-time bronze medallist at the world championships and the double gold medallist at the Pan Am Games, looked smooth in his Saturday race. He will need to run well in the semis to advance to the finals. He’s ranked third entering the semifinals.

Post-race interview with De Grasse

What are De Grasse’s podium chances?

De Grasse showed on Saturday that his top-end speed is there. He easily pulled away from a world-class field, including Jimmy Vicaut and Su Bingtian, and looked across the track as he crossed the line. It’s a good sign because his start was nothing special. Bingtian (lane two) beat him out of the starting blocks.

“I was a bit tentative,” admits De Grasse. “I didn’t want to false start, it’s my first Olympics.”

Fortunately, with another race to go before the finals, De Grasse should be able to tweak a few things. He was also hesitant out of the blocks because if an athlete false starts, they are automatically disqualified. There was no point for De Grasse to risk that in the heats. He was the second slowest out of the blocks in his heat according to his reaction time.

De Grasse, with a personal best of 9.92, will almost certainly need to shave at least 0.10 seconds off his best to contend for a medal. There are three runners in the field that have bettered 9.75 seconds.

Another thing going for De Grasse is that it’s somewhat unclear how fast he can actually run. He has only been in the sport for a few years after being a basketball player for much of high school. He has absolutely burst on the sprint scene and signed a US$11.25 million deal with Puma. Really, the sky’s the limit and most of us are unsure what he’s capable of on the world’s biggest level, the Olympics.

His competition

In order for De Grasse to medal, he will have to beat the likes of Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, Trayvon Bromell and Akani Simbine among others. Not surprisingly, Usain Bolt is also in the mix and he will go for the triple-triple in winning three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m) for the third consecutive Games.

RELATED: Geneviève Lalonde runs the race of her life at Olympics, sets Canadian record.

Gatlin and Bolt are believed to be the top contenders for the gold medal. Bolt typically does not get an amazing start but has the best top-end speed in the world. If De Grasse can get a jump on him in the early stages, he may be able to challenge either the American (Gatlin) or the Jamaican (Bolt).

Blake, the 2011 world champion in the 100m, is also back and appears to be in fine form. He’s the second fastest ever in the 100m and is the only man to have won a global championship during Bolt’s career (Bolt false started in 2011 and was DQed).

Bolt, the world record holder at 9.58, also looked good in the heats of the 100m. He typically “jogs” the heats and continues to improve in the leadup to the finals. His race video can be found below.

Bolt’s race

Canadians Aaron Brown, who went sub-10 earlier this year, was eliminated in the heats as was Akeem Haynes. Brown will run again in the men’s 200m and will be a factor on the Canadian 4x100m relay team later this Olympics.

Brown’s race

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