Six-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse got onto the track at Paris 2024 for the first time on Saturday.
In the first round of the men’s 100m, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist in the event qualified for the semifinal with a time of 10.07 seconds. He finished third in his heat, and had the 18th fastest time out of the 27 qualified runners.
“I was a little lackadaisical at the start and that kind of tossed me. I tried to come back but, obviously, you can’t run a 9.9 like that,” said DeGrasse. “That first 40 metres is going to be crucial if I want to get into the final.”
The track star is looking for a third consecutive Olympic Games with a medal in the 100 metrea.
Aaron Brown, who hoped to also be a medal contender for Canada, saw his hopes dashed after a false start in the eighth and final heat.
Brown explained to officials near the start line that he had mistaken a noise for the starting gun, but ultimately he was disqualified.
“It’s a little embarrassing. I’m at a loss for words … I’m still in shock. I felt like there was a twitch beside me and that made me react. Something in my head just said ‘Go’.,”
Brown will compete in the 200m heats Monday.
Duan Asemota, running in his first Olympic Games, missed out on advancing by a tenth of a second, as he finished with a time of 10.17.
“It was a great experience. Just being able to make it this far, because not everyone gets to make it this far,” the 27-year-old said. “Coming from everything that I’ve came from in my life, to be here is very unlikely, so I’m just really proud of myself to have made it to this stage.”
The men’s 100m semifinal will begin at 2:05 p.m. ET, 8:05 p.m. local on Sunday. The final will follow shortly thereafter.
Now to the women’s 100m, where 25-year-old Audrey Leduc was coming off a first round race where she set a new national record in the distance.
Unfortunately, Leduc was not able to qualify for the final, but still turned in a very impressive time of 11.10 seconds.
“I’m happy for sure, I would have wanted to go the final. But that’s fine,” Leduc said following her sprint. “I have the 200m tomorrow, so my goal is just to go there and execute what I didn’t execute today and just run a good race,”
Surely, the track world will have their eyes on Leduc in Los Angeles 2028.
In the men’s 1500m repechage, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot qualified for the semifinal as he raced to a season-best time of 3 minutes and 33.53 seconds. He finished second in his heat, and made a noticeable improvement from his time of 3:36.92 in round one.
“I’ve made the final in every major championship in my career. I just made the semifinal so it’s not quite the dream come true yet, but it’s a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” said Philibert-Thiboutot, who’s racing in his second Olympic Games, but first since 2016.
He will race in the semifinal on Sunday at 3:10 p.m. ET / 9:10 p.m. local.
Jazz Shukla finished second in her heat with a time of 2:02.00 in the women’s 800m repechage, but it was not enough to advance to the semifinal round.
Damian Warner’s hopes of defending his Olympic title in the decathlon were dashed after disaster struck in the pole vault. He no-heighted in the event and without a measurement, his standing fell from second to 17th. Devastated by the development, he opted to withdraw from the final two events of the decathlon.
Warner entered the day in fourth place through five events. He then finished the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.62 seconds, the fastest time overall, and threw a season-best 48.68m in the discus. Through seven events, he was sitting in second place, 72 points behind Germany’s Leo Neugebauer.
