De Grasse anchors men’s relay to second place at Gateshead Diamond League

Andre De Grasse, who will race the 100m and 200m in Tokyo, finished off the podium in the 100m at Gateshead today, with a 10.13, behind Trayvon Bromell of the U.S. (9.98), who scored his sixth win out of seven races this season, Chijindu Ujah of the U.K. in 10.10 and Zharnel Hughes, also of the U.K., in 10.13. The U.S.’s Fred Kerley, another one to watch in Tokyo, was fifth, just a hair behind De Grasse.)

De Grasse may have been saving himself for the 4 x 100m relay, in which he made up a significant amount of lost time, bringing the baton home in a season’s best 38.29, just .02 seconds off first place. Great Britain and Northern Ireland took the win in 38.27, and the team from the Netherlands finished third, in 38.49. Rounding out the Canadian team were Bismark Boateng, Jerome Blake and Bojolade Ajomale. (Hughes was in the same boat as De Grasse, running the second leg of his country’s relay, and narrowly defeating Canada.)

It is Diamond League day in Gateshead, UK, featuring Canadians competing in the men's and women's 100 metres, the men's and women's 100-metre relays, and the men's 5,000 metres. Don't miss a minute of the action, starting at 2 p.m. ET: https://t.co/7KCJHFKXlf pic.twitter.com/fmHcnt6JFe

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) July 13, 2021

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Canada’s Ben Flanagan ran an almost 18-second personal best of 7:54.32 in the 3,000m, which was won in impressive fashion by the Spaniard, Mohamed Katir, who outkicked Stewart McSweyn of Australia and brought home the win in a new national and meeting record of 7:27.64. Katir also set a national record in the 1,500m last week in Monaco. The U.K.’s Andrew Butchart rounded out the podium in 7:35.18.

Other notable results include U.S. runner Kate Grace’s decisive victory in the otherwise slow and tactical women’s mile, for a world-leading 4:27.20, followed by the U.K.’s Katie Snowden in second (4:28.04) and Helen Schlachtenlaufen of the U.S. in third, in 4:28.13. Grace is having a terrific post-trials season, having also podiumed in the 800m at Monaco last week with a new PB of 1:57.20, after failing to make Team U.S.A. for Tokyo.

Another win in Gateshead for Mohamed Katir of Spain, outsprinting Stewart McSweyn to win the 3000 meters in 7:27.64.

In the last five weeks, the 23-year-old Katir has broken Spanish records in the 1500, 3000, and 5000 meters that stood since 1997, 1998, and 2001, respectively. pic.twitter.com/FJvd2LD013

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) July 13, 2021

Similarly, in the men’s 800m today, it was the American, Isaiah Harris, who came from behind to take the win, in 1:44.76, ahead of Kenya’s Wyclife Kinyamal in 1:44.91 and Austria’s Peter Bol in 1:45.22, and well ahead of his Tokyo-bound compatriots, Clayton Murphy and Bryce Hoppel, who finished fifth and sixth.

The Canadian women were, unfortunately, disqualified for a botched handoff in the women’s 4 x 100m relay.

For full results from today’s events, click here.