'I'm focused': Andre De Grasse shows incredible composure, posts best time in 100m heats
Canadian advances to semis with sprint of 9.91 seconds
Canada's Andre De Grasse hasn't lost a step.
The 26-year-old from Markham, Ont., ran his 100-metre heat in a blistering 9.91 seconds, the best time of the night, as the race to determine the world's fastest man got off to a blazing start in Tokyo.
"That's what I train for all year. It's the Olympics, man," De Grasse said after the race. "So I got to make sure I put in all of the hard work that I have since the beginning of the year and showcase my talent when the time comes."
De Grasse's time is the same time he ran in Rio in 2016, when he won a bronze medal.
It is also only 1-100th of a second slower than his personal best.
WATCH | De Grasse advances to semifinal with blistering run:
"I feel good. It is a season's best, and I am really looking forward to tomorrow night. I am ready to go," he said.
Coming into Saturday's heats, he had only clocked under 10 seconds once in seven races this year.
Before getting off to a clean start, there were two false starts in De Grasse's heat, but he wasn't fazed.
"I'm focused. My coach just told me to react, listen to the gun," he said. "He told me, 'Your top end [first part of the race] is there. [You] just have to really get out with everyone and the race is yours.'"
Former Canadian sprinter and Olympic medallist Bruny Surin was impressed with what he saw. He said De Grasse's 9.91 sends a message to the rest of the field: If De Grasse can continue to run like he did Saturday, a spot on the podium is inevitable.
"His start was good, great acceleration and especially the top speed at the end, he was there," said Surin, an analyst for CBC Sports in Tokyo. "In a few of his races I saw this year, the end was so-so, but from what I saw tonight, he is on point. Everything is there."
Sub-10 second times abound
On a warm, sticky night under a clear Tokyo sky and surrounded by a sea of empty seats, it was the athletes who had to create the buzz around what is widely regarded as the marquee event at the Olympics.
Four sprinters managed to clock times under 10 seconds. De Grasse says it may take even more to be crowned the world's fastest man.
"It is going to be fast. I don't know what it will take, but it will be fast. The weather conditions are helping," he said.
For De Grasse, a lot has changed since Rio. Off the track, he's gotten married and now has two children. On the track, there are heavy expectations. In Rio, he was able to perform outside of the spotlight with much of the attention focused on Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who still holds the world record in this event. But in Tokyo, he is the one in the spotlight, carrying the hopes and expectations of an entire nation.
WATCH | The Olympians - Andre De Grasse:
"I feel like people put it on me, but I enjoy it, I have fun with it. It just makes me feel better, that I am one of the guys that can bring home a medal to Canada," De Grasse said after the race.
He said he is running free and easy, simply enjoying his second Olympic experience.
"Every Olympics is different. Of course we are in a pandemic. Also I've never been to Tokyo, it's my first time," he said with a smile. "It's not the same, you've got to do things a little bit different but still just try and stay focused and be in the moment and just embrace it."
WATCH | CBC Sports explains the 100m dash:
There is no margin of error in this event. A slight misstep or a mistake in form can add a hundredth of a second and can be the difference between moving on or going home.
The top three runners in each of the seven heats, plus the next three fastest times, move on to the semifinals.
The two other Canadians running on Saturday, Gavin Smellie and Bismark Boateng, failed to qualify.
The world's fastest man coming into Saturday, Trayvon Bromell of the United States, had to sweat it out after finishing fourth in his heat, but his 10.03 was enough to advance.
WATCH l Olympic Moments: De Grasse wins bronze, sets new personal best:
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