De Grasse grabs Olympic bronze at the 100 metres in Rio
Canada’s 21-year-old sprinter Andre De Grasse won the bronze medal on Sunday in the Olympic 100 metre final.
Finishing third to now triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica and American Justin Gatlin in second, De Grasse clocked a time of 9.91 seconds for his place on the podium.
RELATED: De Grasse wins bronze (in photos)
RELATED: Bolt & De Grasse go 1-2 in semifinals
Andre De Grasse reacting to a bronze medal finish in the Rio 2016 100m final. August 14, 2016 (photo/ Jason Ransom)
This is Canada’s first Olympic 100m medal at the Olympic Games since Donovan Bailey won gold in world record fashion in Atlanta 1996.
Bolt won in 9.81s, Gatlin followed well back at 9.89.
RELATED: Bolt & De Grasse ‘bromance’ in photos
RELATED: De Grasse wins world championships bronze
The result is virtually the same from the world championships in Beijing a year ago, when De Grasse announced his arrival on the international stage. There he shared the world championship bronze medal podium with good friend and U.S. youngster Trayvon Bromell, while Bolt and Gatlin took the top two awards. A year later the third step of a major podium belongs exclusively to De Grasse.
Following the race and realizing what he had done upon the official placing posted on the Olympic Stadium video board, De Grasse collapsed to his knees, clutching his face in disbelief and joy.
Draped in the maple leaf, De Grasse then went over to where his mother Beverley is seated. Holding hands, the mother and her Olympic medallist son exchanged a moment that will certainly melt hearts across Canada and the world.
At 21 years and 278 days old, De Grasse is the youngest medallist in the men’s 100m since 1984. That year in Los Angeles, Sam Graddy of the United States took 100m silver at the age of 20.
Sunday marked nine straight days of medal competition in which Canada has landed on the podium. This is the longest streak at either the winter or summer Games.
