De Grasse tops men's 200m leaderboard at East Coast Relays in outdoor season debut

Andre De Grasse enjoyed a successful outdoor season debut in the men's 200 metres at the East Coast Relays on Friday.

De Grasse of Markham, Ont., ran 20.11 seconds in the opening heat, finishing with the top time among all competitors across the 15 heats.

The 29-year-old competed in two indoor events in the 60 metres this year, but his first outdoor event of 2024 on Friday comes after an explosive finish to a trying 2023 season.

After placing sixth at worlds in the 200, De Grasse won his first career Diamond League trophy in September at 19.76 seconds. It was his fourth-fastest time ever and the second time he went sub-20 seconds in September, and since winning the 200 Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021.

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The Canadian sprinter has made it clear that before he retires he wants the men’s national 100m record currently held jointly by Donovan Bailey & Bruny Surin. Certified track nerd Morgan Campbell gives an update on De Grasse from the time they spent together earlier this year in Jacksonville, Florida.

De Grasse is also set to compete in the 100 metres on Saturday, an event in which he has yet to run a qualifying time for the upcoming Olympics. The qualification period started July 1, 2023 and ends June 30 with the Olympic standard being 10 seconds.

He will be competing against his teammates at Tumbleweed Track Club in Jacksonville, Fla., Olympic 100 champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy and American Trayvon Bromell on Saturday.

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