De Grasse ‘grateful’ after 100m bronze medal at Tokyo 2020
At the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, it was Harry Jerome who won the men’s 100m bronze medal. Now 57 years later, back in Tokyo, a Canadian does it again.
Behind his golden sunglasses, Andre De Grasse was laser focused and composed through all three of his 100m races at Tokyo 2020 as he landed himself on the podium of one of the biggest Olympic events once again.
“I feel good. I’m really happy with the personal best,” said De Grasse. “It was a good race. Everyone ran very well so I’m really just happy to be back on the podium again.”
Starting the day off in the semifinal round, De Grasse (9.98s) finished second behind Fred Kerley (9.96s) of the United States, earning the second auto qualifying spot to advance into the final.
De Grasse admitted he needed to make adjustments following his semifinal race, but the 26-year-old stepped back into the blocks, ready in lane 9 for the final. Another false start would delay the men’s 100m final, but it wouldn’t matter. The Markham, Ontario sprinter will be coming back to Canada as the 100m bronze medallist with a personal best time of 9.89 seconds and matching his bronze medal performance from Rio 2016.
READ: De Grasse wins second straight Olympic 100m bronze at Tokyo 2020
After injuries threatened his career following the 2016 Games, De Grasse admits that he is just happy to be racing at the Olympics again.
“I’m really just grateful. I’m blessed. I worked really hard to come back from my injuries. I never gave up on myself,” he said. “I’ve got to thank my family, my support system for just pushing me all the way. There were times when I wanted to give up after getting injured. They just kept pushing me and said, ‘You’re not done yet. You’ve still got a long way to go. You’re young.'”
“Just really happy to be back out here again and feel like every year I’m just getting better,” De Grasse added. “With the personal best I feel like I have still got a good shot for next year and for the next Olympics.”
De Grasse now turns his attention to the men’s 200m race before joining the Canadian men’s 4x100m relay team to conclude the Games.
