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Sprinter Andre De Grasse struck gold in the men's 200 metres

De gold for De Grasse

It was a moment Andre De Grasse has been waiting for his entire career.

The sprinter Usain Bolt proclaimed his heir apparent at the Rio Olympics, finally climbed to the top step of the Olympic podium.

De Grasse captured his first Olympic gold medal Wednesday morning, winning the men's 200 metres in Canadian-record time, 19.62 seconds.

The time was faster than Bolt's gold medal winning time five years earlier.

It was also the first gold medal for Canada in the event since Percy Williams in Amsterdam in 1928.

“I’m just proud – proud of this moment. I want everybody to know: I shocked the world," de Grasse told Athletics Canada.

"That’s what I came here to do. This is my moment. I knew I had it in me and I just wanted to come out here and get the job done. Coming into my second games, I knew I was ready. I was prepared for this. I trained an extra year for this, and I knew I was ready.”

De Grasse, always a strong finisher in the 200, was slightly behind after the bend, but hit his stride down the stretch to pass his American challengers.

The three American runners finished second, third and fourth.

Teammate Aaron Brown was sixth in 20.20 seconds.

“Not the result that I wanted, but I’m satisfied in that I know there’s more work to be done,” said Brown.

“This isn’t the end of the road, so I’m not going to hang my head. I’m proud of what I did to get here and I’m just going to keep waiting for my opportunity to challenge for a medal.”

Brown may have that chance when the Canadian men return to the track for the 4x100 metre relay.

De Grasse and Brown are expected to compete in that event, along with Kelowna sprinter Jerome Blake.



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