When the Canadian contingent heads into the Paris Summer Olympics later this month, much ado will be made about the country’s chances in all sorts of individual and team sports.
But in arguably the Olympics’ most iconic event, there’s one of the Games’ most recognizable faces hoping for yet another medal-winning performance for Canada.
Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse is heading into his third Olympics at age 29, looking to add to his already impressive medal count. De Grasse has won a medal in every Olympic event he’s entered, picking up a gold in the 200m in Tokyo back in 2021, while also winning two bronze medals and three silver medals dating back to the Rio 2016 Games in the 100m and 4x100m relay event.
“The long-term goal is always to get on the podium and make sure I’m contending for those medals,” De Grasse said in an interview with Daily Hive.
De Grasse’s times this season have been a little slow of his personal bests, coming in at 20.09 for the 200m (19.62 PB) and 10 seconds flat for the 100m (9.89 PB). He’s currently ranked sixth and 23rd in the world in each respective event but isn’t letting his previous times get to him when looking ahead to Paris.
“I’ve just tried to find ways to try to be consistent in that process of trying to reach my goals. Over the years, yeah, [my goals] have changed. You’re like, ‘Do I focus more on the 200 metres this year? Okay, do I focus more on the 100 metres? That’s always a challenge in a sense, because I’m doing two events, and there’s only so many days that I can kind of practice those events,” De Grasse said.
De Grasse is running the 100m on August 3 and 4, and the 200m on August 5, 7, and 8, should he advance to the final in both events. But it’s a quick turnaround time to perhaps the country’s best shot at landing atop the podium in men’s track, with the 4x100m relay going on August 8 and 9.
De Grasse is expected to compete in the event with Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Jerome Blake, all of whom have been longtime teammates of his in the event.
“We’re kind of like a family now, because we’ve known each other for so long,” De Grasse said.
The foursome made headlines at the 2022 World Championship gold medal in Eugene, Oregon, where they beat the Americans on home soil to win the gold medal with a Canadian record time of 37.48.
“We’re hoping for some magic, some great results in Paris, and hopefully we can contend for that gold medal,” De Grasse added. “After everyone’s done their individual events, we’ll try to put that all together and try to bring back a medal for Canada.”
While on the track, De Grasse is mostly focused on speed over looks; however, the same can’t quite be said for off of it.
For the past few years, De Grasse has been using Invisalign Clear Aligners while sleeping at night to help keep his teeth in order.
“It’s authentic, it’s genuine to me… I wanted to have a better smile,” De Grasse said of his Invisalign partnership.
De Grasse also has his eye set on the Canadian 100m record of 9.84 seconds, set at the 1996 Games in Atlanta by Donovan Bailey and tied at the 1999 World Championship in Seville by Bruny Surin.
“I mean, I know I’m close to it. So that’s something that I’m trying to challenge myself to be able to do,” De Grasse said.
Following his time at the Olympics, De Grasse intends to keep his eyes on the Canadian men’s and women’s basketball teams.
“I can’t wait to watch them when I get to Paris,” De Grasse said. “We haven’t had this much talent in a long time.”
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