Andre De Grasse cruised to an easy 10.16 seconds to win his 100-metre semifinals at the Canadian track and field championships on Friday.
The triple medallist from last summer’s Rio Olympics took one glance around before coasting through the finish line on a track still slick from an earlier thunderstorm.
With the final slated for later Friday, the 22-year-old from Markham, Ont., has said he wanted to run a sub-10 second race in Ottawa, and perhaps even break the Canadian record of 9.84 that’s co-held by Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.
Gavin Smellie of Brampton, Ont., won the first semifinal in 10.20, and Akeem Haynes of Calgary won his semi in 10.27.
Aaron Brown of Toronto, who boasts a personal best of 9.94, was disqualified for a false start, but ran anyway with hopes of launching an appeal.
De Grasse’s personal best is the 9.91 he ran to win bronze at last summer’s Rio Olympics. He ran his fastest time this season — 10.01 — to win the Diamond League meet in Oslo, Norway last month. He ran a blistering, but wind-aided, 9.69 to win the Stockholm Diamond League last month.
Andre De Grasse is the newest in a long line of Canadian sprint superstars1:22
De Grasse will also run the 200 at the national championships, which determine the team for next month’s world track and field championships in London.
De Grasse will have one last shot to upset Usain Bolt at the worlds — the Jamaican superstar will retire after the meet.
A thunderstorm rolled in just prior to the scheduled start time, delaying several field events.
But optimistic fans still squeezed into the grandstand under a virtual tarp of dozens of umbrellas, staking out their spots as they waited for the storm to pass.
