Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse joined Andrew Walker on Sportsnet 590 The Fan earlier today to talk about how he paces himself during the season leading up to the Olympics. At the end of May, De Grasse came in eighth at a Diamond League meet in Eugene, Ore.—eighth out of eight, that is. Granted, he was up against heavyweights like Justin Gatlin, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, who all crossed the finish line in under 10 seconds. (Usain Bolt did not compete.) But De Grasse has proven he can hold his own in that mix, producing his personal best 9.92 at World Championships last year. He did finish first more recently in Oslo, though even there he ran slower (10.07) than he did at Eugene (10.05). So what gives?
“Gotta save it for the big show,” De Grasse told Walker. The fact that the 100m track race is the marquee event at the Games—”the best thing televised,” as he put it—is a motivator for him, though he admitted it makes him a bit nervous, too. De Grasse was introduced to athletic celebrity just one year ago, a summer in which he won the NCAA championship, made a big splash at the Pan Am Games in his hometown of Toronto with wins in both the 100m and 200m races, and then made the podium at worlds, tying for the bronze medal with Trayvon Bromell of the U.S.
De Grasse did say he feels his momentum rising. “I’m getting my confidence back,” he told Walker. Particularly with back-to-back Diamond League wins—in addition to coming in first in the 100m in Oslo, De Grasse beat the 200m field in Birmingham, Eng., earlier this month. But he knows how much pressure there will be in Rio. “You’re going to see sub-10s in the first round,” he said. “You gotta try to be ready.”
