De Grasse, McBride and Watson set to compete Saturday at Shanghai Diamond League

Andre De Grasse is set to compete this Saturday May 12 at the second Diamond League race of the series in Shanghai. De Grasse suffered a hamstring injury this past winter which took a long time to heal. Because of his injury, De Grasse has only raced twice this outdoor season. He opened his season at the Drake Relays running his fastest ever opener over 100m in 10.15. De Grasse followed up his race at the Drake Relays with a 200m in Doha. The 2016 Olympian placed sixth in the 200m where Noah Lyles of the USA won the race, set a personal best, and broke the meet record. 

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Since Doha, De Grasse has shifted his focus to Shanghai where he will run the 100m. The start list includes Justin Gatlin the reigning 100m World Champion who beat Usain Bolt in an upset at the World Championships last summer. The 100m is the last event of the programme. The gun goes at 8:53 a.m EDT. 

Brandon McBride is set to run the men’s 800m in Shanghai in an extremely competitive field. The Windsor, Ont. native will compete against Clayton Murphy the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the event. McBride is a former NCAA champion and three-time Canadian national champion over 800m. He has run within 0.3 seconds of the Canadian record over 800m and in the right race could challenge the mark set by Gary Reed in 2008. The gun goes at 8:04 a.m EDT.

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Sage Watson of Medicine Hat, Alberta will run the 400m hurdles. The Nike athlete and University of Arizona alumni will compete against the American champion Dalilah Muhammad.  Watson, a former NCAA champion, has run well already this season with a season’s best of 55.43. Watson’s personal best is just 0.13 seconds off the Canadian national record and Shanghai could be the race where Watson becomes the new Canadian record holder. Her race starts at 7:03 a.m EDT. 

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You can stream the races live from Runnerspace or watch on CBC Sports.