On Thursday morning, Donovan Bailey, who won gold in the 100-metre race at the 1996 Olympic Games and is currently working as an analyst for CBC Sports at Rio 2016, joined Dean Blundell & Co., to talk about Canadian medal hopeful, sprinter Andre De Grasse.
Bailey, who knows De Grasse personally and was texting him last week before the runner left for Rio, thinks it’s a good thing that De Grasse is somewhat under the radar right now. “He’s in an amazing position,” said Bailey. “It seems that maybe the big organizations aren’t talking about him.” And while this is surprising — given De Grasse’s youth, the fact that he hasn’t been sidelined by injury, not to mention his multiple podium appearances last year, including bronze at world championships — the low profile may benefit De Grasse in the end. “He’s going to surprise a few people,” said Bailey.
De Grasse works with Bailey’s former coach, Dan Pfaff, and one of Bailey’s best friends Stuart MacMillan. (Sportsnet’s Evan Rosser travelled to Phoenix, Ariz., where De Grasse trains, this past spring and wrote this profile on the sprinter.) Bailey keeps in regular contact with both Pfaff and MacMillan—he knows what De Grasse can do.
“He is extremely prepared,” said Bailey. “What I’ve said to him is, give yourself a chance. Run one way for the time, and when you get to the final, leave it all on the track.”
Bailey explained that in this last week before the race (the 100-metre heats begin Saturday morning), all of De Grasse’s work has already been done. Now is the time for him relax, have a massage, make sure he’s getting enough sleep. “Definitely some block starts to remains consistent, maybe one last weight-lifting session, maybe going over his playlist,” said Bailey. The main thing is to avoid distractions.
Bailey also addressed the question of the world’s greatest Olympian, a question we’ve spent some time on too. “The greatest Olympian in the history of the world is Jesse Owens, bar none,” said Bailey. As for active athletes, his vote goes to Bolt. The fact that the Jamaican sprinter is the gold-medal favourite in the 100-metre for the third consecutive Olympic Games “puts him in a category completely by himself.” He acknowledged Michael Phelps’s medal count — which, he said, is “more than most countries” at this point — but pointed to Bolt’s sheer dominance in his field, the fact that he never mind moved the bar in sprinting but “kicked the bar off the stand,” and has come back year after year to do so. “What everyone needs to understand,” said Bailey, “is that there’s a sprinter from every country that exists on this planet. Swimming, not so much.”
Listen to the interview in full here.
