The dream of capturing an Olympic medal in three straight Games is still alive for Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse.
The 29-year-old De Grasse failed to qualify for the final of the men’s 100-metre dash at the Paris 2024 Games, marking the first time in his Olympic career that he hasn’t medaled in the event after capturing the bronze medal in both 2016 and 2020.
He came in fifth place in his semi-final heat, clocking in a time of 9.98 seconds and failed to advance to the final. The eventual men’s 100-metre Olympic champion, American Noah Lyles, took home the gold medal with a time of 9.79 seconds.
“It was a tough run. I definitely felt like I had a lot left in the tank, but I wasn’t able to show it today. It’s part of the game,” De Grasse told CBC’s Devin Heroux after the semi-final loss. “It was a tough run. I’m a little disappointed, but I’ll just keep my head up and look [forward] to the next run.”
Just finished speaking to 🇨🇦 Andre De Grasse.
He said he would have basically needed a personal best to qualify. Stacked field. He really liked his start and top end speed.
Now shifting focus to trying to defend his 200m title starting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hlagibTD5X
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
While it is not the type of result that De Grasse would have wanted in the 100-metre event, the three-time Olympian is far from done at this year’s edition of the Games. Though he has made a name for himself in the 100-metre, he has been much more successful in the upcoming men’s 200-metre dash, an event where he enters as the defending Olympic champion.
De Grasse captured the 200-metre gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, finishing with a time of 19.62 seconds. It’s been the event he has had the most success in of late, having won the gold medal for the 200-metre at the 2023 Diamond League.
He will be up against some stiff competition, however, and a podium finish is anything but a guarantee. Among his competitors will be Lyles, whose personal best of 19.31 seconds is better than De Grasse’s 19.62 seconds.
Alongside him will be Canadians Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney also racing the 200-metre. Preliminary heats are set to begin tomorrow morning with the final slated to go on Thursday.
Once this event comes and goes, De Grasse will also have a chance to defend his silver medal in the men’s 4×100 metre relay. The Toronto native won that medal while part of a team that included Brown, Rodney, and Jerome Blake. This time around, De Grasse will be reunited with Brown and Blake, with newcomers Duan Asemota and Eliezer Adjibi rounding out the Canadian relay team this year.
The 4×100 metre relay will get going on Thursday with preliminary heats with the final slated for Friday.
De Grasse will have to give it all he’s got, but an Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games is still in play.