World

Andre De Grasse says he’s still recovering from a leg injury

TORONTO –

Despite Andre De Grasse’s hot anchor foot that helped Canada win a thrilling relay at the world athletics championships, the sprint star hasn’t felt fit again.

After a couple of months battling a foot injury, then contracting COVID-19 a month before the world championship, De Grasse will likely pause his season for now and focus on next year. .

“Honestly, it was a struggle,” De Grasse said. “I don’t feel like I have 100% energy back. I think right now I just want to rest and recuperate until I start to enjoy myself again, and then I can make that decision.

“(The foot injury) has lasted all season, so I want to try to get back to 100%. . . We’ll see, we’ll see what happens. “

De Grasse, relay teammates Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake, and world pentathlon silver medalist Pierce LaPage all withdrew from the Commonwealth Games, which opened Thursday in Birmingham, England. . Five Diamond League meetings will take place over the next six weeks.

But two big seasons are beckoning. There is another world championship in August 2023 in Istanbul, and then the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“I want to get ready for next year, another world, and then I want to be healthy for the Olympic Games, because it could be my last. So I want to be able to be great,” said De Grasse.

De Grasse, who has competed in two and won six medals, added: “The stereotype is that people have two or three Olympics. “But if I get a fourth, I’ll be very grateful for that. I talked to Glenroy (Gilbert, head coach of Athletics Canada) about me going to the Olympics for the fourth time, and I’m in top shape, I’m in my prime, it’s great. . If not, and I’m just there for the relay, that would be a great moment too.

“You do it day by day, year by year, you don’t try to think that far.”

De Grasse was in Toronto on Wednesday for a media appearance for a sponsor ad for Cheezmade, meatless chicken made with cheese.

Three days earlier, De Grasse had saved a disappointing world with a gold medal – and a Canadian record – in the 4×100 relay. It was Canada’s first global relay race victory in 25 years.

The 27-year-old from Markham, Ont., has never missed a medal podium in an individual event at the world or the Olympics, but in Eugene, Ore., Still feels the impact of COVID- 19, he missed the final of 100 and scratched from 200.

Earning gold with three teammates is another joy, he said.

“An individual (winning) like all your hard work has finally paid off in this moment. You can have a little more control over it, it’s just you,” De Grasse said. “Relay, you don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens.”

De Grasse said he, Brown, Blake and Brandon Rodney became friends. They know each other’s parents, they know each other’s children.

“It feels really great to win gold with these guys. Because I know them on a personal level, we have a team chemistry, we’ve been together for a long time. They are family to me. . . and we go out together.

“It feels like my basketball days, playing on a sports team. We have to hug, we feel the love. I guess in a way it’s a little bit different, because you have to really share the glory with people with people you know. “

The Canadian overtook the US to win the relay gold, but De Grasse said it was almost a home win. He had seen many Canadian flags at Hayward Field, about an eight-hour drive south of Vancouver.

“There were a lot of (Canadians) cheering for us, it was huge,” he said.

De Grasse ran a Canadian record of 19.62 seconds to win the Olympic 200 meters last summer in Tokyo. American Noah Lyles, who won bronze in Tokyo, took gold at the world championships with a world-leading 19.31 score. He beat America’s Kenny Bednarek by more than 0.4 seconds – a decent distance in sprint races.

De Grasse was not slowed down by Lyles’ quick times, but rather by inspiration.

“It’s something that I feel I’m definitely capable of,” he said. “I wish I was a part of that race, to see where I would be at 100%, to see if I could lower my 19.6 record from the Olympics.

“Definitely pushes me to say ‘OK, I have to get back to 100%, get back to my A-game,’ and there will be some competition, especially with the Americans who are doing well until current time. “


This Canadian Press report was first published on July 28, 2022.

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