Canadian Andre De Grasse wins gold medal in men’s 200m

Canadian Andre De Grasse has captured the gold medal in the men’s 200m, his second medal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

De Grasse ran the 200-metre sprint in 19.62 seconds, improving on the record he set for Canada in the semi-final.

The other Canadian in the race, Aaron Brown, failed to get on the podium, finishing sixth.

U.S. sprinters Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles captured silver and bronze.

The Markham, Ont. native is still the only Canadian man to capture a medal so far in the Tokyo Olympics.

It’s De Grasse’s first gold medal and fifth Olympic medal.

“I always felt like I came up for short winning bronze and silver, so it’s just good to just have that gold medal. No one can take that away from me,” De Grasse said.

His victory comes 25 years – plus a week  after Donovan Bailey raced to 100-metre gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

De Grasse’s run was the highlight of an impressive day in track and field for Canada, with Damian Warner sitting first after the opening five events of the decathlon and fellow Canadian Pierce LePage in third.

The 31-year-old from London, Ont., held a commanding lead after three of 10 events, after following up his 100 metres with a good performance in the shot put and a spectacular one in the long jump.

Warner is the No. 1-ranked decathlete in the world this year after shattering his Canadian record at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis, Austria. His score of 8,995 there was the fourth best in history.

Thursday events are the 110-metre hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500 metres.

After the events, Warner had time to check out De Grasse’s historic race.

“I had front-row seats,” he said. “I think that’s the best seating I’ve ever had for a 100-metre or 200-metre final.

“I’m happy for Andre. He has always performed at his best at world championships and Olympics, there’s a reason why he gets paid the big bucks. He went out there today and he performed.”