Andre De Grasse

5.1. 2015 Season: Breakthrough Year

After winning the national 100 m title with a personal best of 9.95 seconds, De Grasse's next major event was the 2015 Pan American Games held in his home province of Ontario. He secured the gold medal in the 100 m with a time of 10.05 seconds, crediting the home crowd for an "extra boost of energy." He then achieved a double gold by winning the 200 m with a new national record of 19.88 seconds, becoming the first Canadian in history to run both a sub-10 second 100 m and a sub-20 second 200 m. Although he appeared to win a third Pan Am Games gold in the 4x100 m relay, the Canadian team was later disqualified due to a lane infringement by Gavin Smellie.

At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China, De Grasse made a significant international debut. He impressed by nearly beating Usain Bolt in his 100 m heat, with both clocking 9.96 seconds. In the final, De Grasse tied for the bronze medal with Trayvon Bromell, achieving a new personal best of 9.92 seconds. This made him the first Canadian to win a medal in the 100 m at the World Championships since Bruny Surin in 1999. He also earned a second bronze medal in the 4×100 m relay, running 38.13 seconds alongside Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Justyn Warner.

5.2. 2016 Season: Olympic Success

De Grasse's 2016 season began with a rocky start, including an eighth-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic. However, he quickly regained form, winning the 200 m in Birmingham and the 100 m in Oslo. He successfully defended his national 100 m title with a time of 9.99 seconds, his first sub-10 second race of the season, securing his spot on Canada's Olympic team. He also qualified for the 200 m, finishing third at the national championships.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, De Grasse carried significant medal hopes for Canada. He easily advanced to the finals of the 100 m, running 10.04 seconds in his heat and equaling his personal best of 9.92 seconds in the semi-finals. His performance in the semi-final, where he appeared to mimic Usain Bolt and crossed the line alongside him with smiles, garnered significant attention. In the final, De Grasse won the bronze medal with a new personal best of 9.91 seconds, finishing behind Bolt and Justin Gatlin. He became the first male athlete to win a medal for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Bolt himself acknowledged De Grasse's potential, stating, "He came through again. He's going to be good; he runs just like me, I mean, he's really slow at the blocks, but when he gets going, he gets going." De Grasse later commented on his relationship with Bolt, saying, "We were just having some fun. Me and Usain met back in January, we did a lot of things together. He feels like I'm the next one, and now I'm just trying to live up to it."

In the 200 m, De Grasse posted the fastest time in the heats (20.09 seconds). In the semi-finals, he again lined up beside Bolt. De Grasse's aggressive push to challenge Bolt in the final meters, resulting in a shared smile and finish, became one of the most iconic moments of the Games. De Grasse set a new Canadian record of 19.80 seconds and became the first Canadian to reach the 200 m final since Atlee Mahorn at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Despite his tactic, De Grasse finished behind Bolt again in the final, earning the silver medal with a time of 20.02 seconds. This marked the first time a Canadian had won a medal in the Olympic 200 m since Percy Williams at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

De Grasse ran the anchor leg for the Canadian team in the 4 × 100 m relay final. Starting in sixth place, De Grasse made an incredible surge, closing a four-meter gap on Japan and the United States. Although the team initially finished fourth, narrowly missing bronze by 0.02 seconds, they set a new national record of 37.64 seconds, breaking the previous record from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The American team, which had placed third, was later disqualified for a zone violation during a baton exchange, resulting in Canada being awarded the bronze medal.

5.3. 2017-2018 Seasons: Challenges and Recovery

The 2017 season, like 2016, began with some difficulties for De Grasse, but he quickly found his stride. He secured Diamond League victories in the 100 m in Oslo and Stockholm, and in the 200 m in Rome and Rabat. His time of 9.69 seconds in Stockholm, though wind-assisted (+11 mph ^{(4.8 m/s)}), was the fourth fastest in history regardless of wind conditions. With Usain Bolt opting out of the 200 m, De Grasse was considered a strong favorite for the world title at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London. His primary goal was to defeat Bolt in the 100 m before Bolt's retirement after the championships. After winning both the 100 m and 200 m national titles, De Grasse was poised to attempt the same double in London. However, just days before the World Championships, De Grasse sustained a hamstring strain, forcing him to withdraw from both events. This effectively ended his chance to race against Bolt before his retirement. There were also reports of tension between De Grasse's camp and Bolt's, with De Grasse's coach suggesting that Bolt's team might have influenced De Grasse's withdrawal from a prior race in Monaco to prevent a potential defeat before the championships. Despite the apparent tensions, Bolt later expressed regret that he would not have the opportunity to race De Grasse in London.

On January 10, 2018, De Grasse was named to Canada's 2018 Commonwealth Games team. However, he withdrew from the Games before they began due to his ongoing hamstring injury. In the Diamond League, De Grasse's performances were clearly affected by his injuries, as he finished sixth in the 200 m in Doha and eighth in the 100 m in Shanghai. He was unable to defend his national 100 m title, placing third with 10.20 seconds. During the 200 m heats, he pulled up with another hamstring injury, ending his season prematurely. Following these setbacks, De Grasse left his training group ALTIS and coach Stu McMillan in Arizona, moving to Jacksonville, Florida, to train under Rana Reider.

5.4. 2019 Season: World Championship Medals

Despite initial struggles early in the 2019 season, De Grasse gradually made a strong return to international competition. He finished second to Aaron Brown in the 200 m at the Diamond League in Shanghai. A month later, he secured his first Diamond League victory in two years at the Rabat 200 m event, where he notably defeated the reigning World champion Ramil Guliyev. In the lead-up to the World Championships, he consistently achieved podium finishes in five of seven 100 m events and all six 200 m races. The following week, he beat Christian Coleman at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the 200 m with a time of 19.91 seconds. In July, he broke the 10-second barrier in the 100 m for the first time in three years at the Diamond League in London.

At the national championships, De Grasse narrowly lost to Aaron Brown in the 100 m, with both clocking 10.03 seconds, separated by thousandths of a second. He was named to the Canadian team for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, competing in both the 100 m and 200 m. He concluded his pre-championship season with a 100 m win at the ISTAF Berlin in 9.97 seconds.

At the World Championships, De Grasse solidified his comeback by winning his semi-final in the 100 m, notably beating defending champion Justin Gatlin and the second fastest man of all time, Yohan Blake. He went on to win the bronze medal in the final with a new personal best of 9.90 seconds. Competing next in the 200 m, he secured the silver medal behind Noah Lyles with a time of 19.95 seconds, slightly shy of his season's best of 19.87 seconds. De Grasse expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating, "I'm not disappointed. I didn't think I'd be here a year ago." This marked the first World Championship medal for a Canadian in the 200 m since Atlee Mahorn in 1991. He once again anchored the Canadian 4×100 m team, but despite setting a season's best of 37.91 seconds, the team failed to qualify for the final, finishing eighth overall.

5.5. 2020-2021 Seasons: Tokyo Olympics Gold

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of much of the 2020 international season and the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics by a year. De Grasse opened his 2021 season on April 17 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, running the 100 m in 9.99 seconds. While his subsequent 100 m starts, including two 2021 Diamond League appearances, saw times over ten seconds, he found more success in the 200 m, finishing in the top three in all three of his Diamond League appearances, including a victory at the Oslo event with 20.09 seconds. He also participated in the Müller British Grand Prix as part of the Canadian 4x100 m relay team, which placed second with a time of 38.29 seconds.

De Grasse was named to the 2020 Canadian Olympic team and was considered one of Canada's top medal contenders in athletics, despite some of his earlier results that year. Former Olympic champion Donovan Bailey dismissed concerns about De Grasse's times, emphasizing that, in his view, he was "more concerned that he's injury-free and been consistent."

Upon his arrival in Tokyo, Japan, for the 2020 Summer Olympics, De Grasse began by competing in the heats of the men's 100 m. He comfortably won his heat, posting a new season-best time of 9.91 seconds, just 0.01 seconds shy of his personal best from two years prior, and recorded the fastest time across all heats. He finished second in his semi-final behind Fred Kerley with a time of 9.98 seconds, advancing to the final. In the final, De Grasse was placed in the unfavorable ninth lane and had a slow start, but he rapidly gained ground over the final 131 ft ^{(40 m)} of the race to finish in third place, claiming his second bronze medal in the event with a new personal best time of 9.89 seconds. This was Canada's fourteenth medal of the Tokyo Olympics and the first for a male athlete, a point of media discussion during the Games. He also became the first Canadian man to win multiple Olympic medals in the 100 m.



De Grasse next competed in the heats of the 200 m, automatically qualifying as the third man in his heat with 20.56 seconds. In his semi-final, despite again being in the unfavorable ninth lane, he set a new personal best and Canadian national record of 19.73 seconds, which was the fastest time in the semi-final phase. De Grasse then went on to win the gold medal in the 200 m final in a personal best and Canadian record time of 19.62 seconds, making him the eighth fastest man of all time over 200 m. This was Canada's first track gold medal since 1996 and the first gold medal in the 200 m since Percy Williams' victory in 1928. De Grasse was the only male sprinter to compete in both the 100 m and 200 m races in Tokyo.

Hours after his gold medal win, De Grasse competed in the heats of the 4x100 m relay alongside Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, and Brendon Rodney. Again taking the anchor leg, De Grasse received the baton when the Canadian team was approximately in fifth place, but he reached the finish line in second, just two-thousandths of a second behind Chinese anchor runner Wu Zhiqiang. The Canadian team's qualifying time was the third-fastest in the heats. De Grasse repeated this impressive anchor leg performance in the event final, propelling Canada from fifth to the bronze medal position, securing his sixth Olympic medal. This bronze was later upgraded to a silver when the team from Great Britain was disqualified. This achievement tied him with Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes as the second-most decorated Canadian Olympians, behind Penny Oleksiak.

In his first event following the Olympics, De Grasse returned to the Diamond League for the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Competing in the 100 m event, De Grasse recorded a wind-assisted time of 9.74 seconds, winning the event ahead of Tokyo silver medalist Fred Kerley. De Grasse stated that after the Olympics, he "just went out there to have some fun." Weeks later, at the Diamond League Final in Zürich, De Grasse placed second in both the 100 m and 200 m events, competing in both on the same night. He equaled his 9.89 second time from the Olympics in the 100 m, and then ran 19.72 seconds an hour later in the 200 m, despite admitting, "I just had no gas" for the latter. He characterized it as the end of "my greatest season ever."

5.6. 2022-2024 Seasons: Continued Success and Paris Olympics

The 2022 season presented new challenges for De Grasse, who was hampered by a foot injury. After a ninth-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic in the 100 m, he won gold at the Bislett Games in Oslo with a season-best time of 10.05 seconds. Shortly thereafter, he contracted COVID-19 for the second time, which significantly impacted his training due to breathing difficulties.

Despite his health struggles, he chose to compete at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In the 100 m, De Grasse finished second in his heat with a 10.12 second time, qualifying for the semi-finals, despite visible difficulties. He ran 10.21 seconds in the semi-finals and did not advance to the final, marking the first time he had failed to win a medal in an individual World Championship event. Reflecting on his health, De Grasse stated, "it's alright. It's been a challenging season. I'll take it; I made it to the semifinals." He subsequently withdrew from the 200 m. Questions were raised about his readiness for the 4×100 m relay, but De Grasse felt able to compete. The Canadian team qualified for the finals with the third-fastest time in the heats. In the final, the Canadians achieved a major upset victory over the heavily favored American team to claim the gold medal, aided by smooth baton exchanges while the Americans made multiple fumbles. De Grasse ran the anchor leg for Canada, maintaining the lead over American Marvin Bracy to secure his first-ever relay major championship gold, breaking the national record he had previously helped set at the Rio Olympics. This was Canada's third gold in the event, the others being consecutive wins during the Donovan Bailey era in 1995 and 1997. The result "stunned" the heavily American crowd at Hayward Field, but De Grasse noted, "there's a lot of Canadian flags out there, a lot of fans cheering us on -- it definitely feels good. It's not technically on home soil, but it kind of felt like it." Reflecting on the historic win with his teammates, he said: "We have talked and dreamed about this moment together."

De Grasse was initially named to the Canadian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but withdrew after the World Championships, with Athletics Canada citing a need "to properly recover and prepare for the rest of the season." Struggles with injury and the aftermath of COVID-19 continued, and he ended the season with an appearance at the Diamond League Final in Zürich, where he finished eighth in the 100 m and sixth in the 200 m.

Following the 2022 season, with coach Rana Reider under investigation for sexual misconduct, De Grasse opted to move to Orlando to train under John Coghlan. He stated that the switch "had nothing to do really with what was happening... I just wanted to try to get a fresh start." His partner Ali joined him in training there. The return to competition after the previous season's injuries proved challenging, and in his first seven races, he did not run under 10 seconds in the 100 m or under 20.20 seconds in the 200 m.

De Grasse's final opportunity to achieve qualifying times for the 2023 World Athletics Championships came at the Canadian Championships at the end of July. He recorded the ninth-fastest time in the semi-finals of the 100 m, running 10.21 seconds, and did not advance to the finals, thus failing to qualify for the World Championships in that event. In the 200 m, he reached the final and ran a new season's best time of 20.01 seconds to win, improving on his prior best time by 0.34 seconds.

With the heats of the World Championships 4×100 m relay scheduled during the same session as the final of the 200 m, De Grasse chose not to participate in the heats. In his absence, the defending World champions finished sixth in their heat and failed to advance. He criticized the scheduling decisions by World Athletics, stating they needed to be rectified for future championships. In the final of the 200 m, De Grasse finished sixth with a time of 20.14 seconds, marking the first time he had failed to win a medal in a World or Olympic final. Reflecting on this, he observed that "I made the final through all of this challenging season. I shouldn't have been here, to be honest. I shouldn't have been in the final just the way my season was going."

Despite his difficulties during the season, De Grasse reached the 2023 Diamond League final for the 200 m, held in Eugene at Hayward Field. Largely discounted as a title contender by commentators, he posted a season-best time of 19.76 seconds to win the Diamond League title, which was the fourth-fastest time of his career. He became the first Canadian sprinter to win a Diamond League title, and the third Canadian to win a Diamond League title in any event.

Following the end of the 2023 athletics season, De Grasse announced his return to former coach Rana Reider, who had been placed on a year's probation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport after admitting to a consensual relationship with an 18-year-old athlete. De Grasse explained the move as a family decision, citing Jacksonville, Florida as "a much better set-up for our kids with schools and extracurricular activities." Regarding his prior departure from Reider's camp in 2022, he stated that "there were some distractions in 2022 but those issues have been resolved."

In the early part of the 2024 athletic season, De Grasse struggled to produce noteworthy times. His best international result in the 100 m came at the Paavo Nurmi Games, where he placed third and met the Olympic qualifying standard. In the 200 m, his best time was 19.98 seconds at the Gyulai István Memorial, which was under 20 seconds but still short of the performances of rivals like Noah Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek. At the 2024 World Athletics Relays in May, he won the silver medal with the Canadian team in the 4 × 100 metres relay, securing Olympic qualification in that event. De Grasse won his first national title in the 100 m since 2017, with a time of 10.20 seconds, but did not compete in the 200 m event there.

Named to his third Canadian Olympic team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, De Grasse was honored as Canada's co-flagbearer for the opening ceremonies, alongside weightlifter Maude Charron. The individual sprint events in Paris proved disappointing for De Grasse. He narrowly advanced out of the 100 m heats with a 10.07 second time, earning the final automatic qualifying spot, but failed to qualify for the final despite running a season's best 9.98 seconds in the semi-final. In the interval between sprints, Athletics Canada revoked the credentials of coach Rana Reider, citing newly-reported lawsuits against him by three athletes accusing him of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and verbal harassment. De Grasse claimed not to have heard of the allegations before the week in question, calling it "kind of a tough one to swallow." He next sought to defend his gold medal in the 200 m, finishing second in his heat behind Lyles with a 20.30 second time. He placed third in the semi-final, running 20.41 seconds, and did not reach the event final, ending his attempted title defense. De Grasse admitted afterward it had been "a tough 24, 48 hours," and revealed that he had reaggravated a hamstring issue in the 100 m semi-final.

After the difficulties in his individual events, expectations for the Canadian 4 × 100 metres relay team were lowered, as none of the other team members had qualified for an individual final either. The team finished third in their heat, and with the slowest time of the eight teams that reached the event final. When asked about his hamstring, De Grasse stated he was "trying to give it my best effort and hopefully that'll be enough." In the final, the Canadians ran a season's best time of 37.50 seconds and captured the gold medal in what was widely considered a major upset victory, especially after a botched baton exchange ended the hopes of the heavily favored American team. The result was widely heralded as one of the bigger surprises of the Paris Olympics. He earned his seventh Olympic medal, which equaled swimmer Penny Oleksiak's Canadian record for the most cumulative medals for a Canadian Olympian. With his second gold medal, De Grasse equaled Percy Williams and Donovan Bailey among Canadian sprinters, leading The National Post to proclaim him "the greatest Canadian Olympic sprinter in history."

6.1. Personal Bests

6.2. Seasonal Bests

6.3. National Records

Andre De Grasse holds several Canadian national records:

• 200 m: 19.62 seconds (set in Tokyo, 2021)
• Indoor 200 m: 20.26 seconds (set in Fayetteville, 2015)
• 4×100 m relay: 37.48 seconds (set in Eugene, 2022, shared with Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, and Brendon Rodney)
• 4×200 m relay: 1:19.20 (set in Gainesville, 2016, shared with Gavin Smellie, Brendon Rodney, and Aaron Brown)

6.4. Major Competition Medals

Andre De Grasse has achieved significant success at major international competitions, securing numerous medals:

• Olympic Games**:
  • Gold: 200 m (2020 Tokyo), 4×100 m relay (2024 Paris)
  • Silver: 200 m (2016 Rio de Janeiro), 4×100 m relay (2020 Tokyo)
  • Bronze: 100 m (2016 Rio de Janeiro), 4×100 m relay (2016 Rio de Janeiro), 100 m (2020 Tokyo)
• World Championships**:
  • Gold: 4×100 m relay (2022 Eugene)
  • Silver: 200 m (2019 Doha)
  • Bronze: 100 m (2015 Beijing), 4×100 m relay (2015 Beijing), 100 m (2019 Doha)
• World Athletics Relays**:
  • Gold: 4×200 m relay (2017 Nassau)
  • Silver: 4×100 m relay (2024 Nassau)
• Diamond League**:
  • Winner: 200 m (2023)
• Pan American Games**:
  • Gold: 100 m (2015 Toronto), 200 m (2015 Toronto)
• Pan American Junior Championships**:
  • Silver: 100 m (2013 Medellín)
  • Bronze: 200 m (2013 Medellín)

6.5. International Championship Results

6.6. National Championship Results

6.7. Diamond League and Circuit Wins

Andre De Grasse has achieved multiple victories in the Diamond League and other major track and field circuits:

• Diamond League wins (event)**:
  • Rabat: 2017 (200 m), 2019 (200 m)
  • Rome: 2017 (200 m)
  • Oslo: 2016 (100 m), 2017 (100 m), 2021 (200 m), 2022 (100 m)
  • Stockholm: 2017 (100 m)
  • Eugene: 2021 (100 m), 2023 (200 m)
  • Birmingham: 2016 (200 m)

7.1. Family and Relationships

De Grasse is married to American hurdler Nia Ali. Together, they have a daughter, Yuri, born in June 2018, and a second child born in May 2021.

7.2. Faith and Values

De Grasse is a Catholic, a faith influenced by his parents. He has the word "hope" and a prayer tattooed on his arm, reflecting his personal beliefs and guiding values.