Canadian sprint star Andre De Grasse raced to a to a wind-aided 19.96 on Sunday at the Canadian track and field championships t to capture the men’s 200-metre title for the first time in his career, edging Brendon Rodney (20.02) and Aaron Brown (20.13).
“I’m happy about it,” said De Grasse, who wanted to break the 20-second barrier for the Canadian crowd. “The wind wasn’t legal, but I’m really happy to get my first (200-metre) title out of the way. I’m just looking forward to more in the years to come.”
On Friday, De Grasse also won the men’s 100-metre title with a time of 10.13.
But De Grasse admitted disappointment in his time — both for the Ottawa fans that squeezed into the grandstand at Terry Fox Stadium, and because it was his final 100 before his showdown with Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt next month in London.
“This is the last one. So that’s why I wanted to try to put down a time,” De Grasse said. “I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened. Ran the semis, felt pretty good, shut it down. And the finals. . . I don’t know what happened. I thought I was ready to run a fast time and a little disappointed I couldn’t give the crowd what they wanted.”