PARIS — A day after watching the Olympic 100m final on the big screen from the stadium, Andre De Grasse ran a strong 200m heat to qualify for the semifinals in his stronger event.
De Grasse, who came into these Games with six Olympic medals — one from every Olympic event he competed in over two Games — failed to advance to the 100m finals on Sunday. American Noah Lyles went on to take gold in the closest Olympic 100m finish in modern history, with just five thousandths of a second separating him from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
“It was an incredible performance. You know, any one of those men could have won that race,” De Grasse said Monday after his 200m heat.
Still: “It sucked. I’m disappointed I wasn’t a part of that.”
De Grasse ran 20.30 seconds to finish second in his heat behind Lyles, securing an automatic berth to the semis, which take place Wednesday.
Countrymen Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney finished below the top three in their heats, which means they did not get an automatic qualification and need to run in a repechage round Tuesday. The repechage is a new addition to track events from the 200m to the 1,500m at these Olympics and replaces the previous rules whereby the fastest losers across all heats fleshed out the semifinals.
“It’s great drama for TV,” Brown said of the repechage after finishing fourth in his heat, just 0.16 seconds back of an automatic qualifying spot. “If I’m talking from business point Aaron Brown, it’s a fantastic idea. From athlete Aaron Brown, it’s awful because now I’ve got an extra run in my legs.”
The men weren’t the only ones running half lappers at Stade de France on Monday. Also on tap was the women’s 200m semifinals, where Canada’s Audrey Leduc ran 22.68 seconds to finish sixth in her heat. She will not advance to the final.
“I’m feeling better than maybe 10 minutes ago,” she told media as she walked through the mixed zone after her run. “It’s just amazing to be here and to be able to perform on that stage … It’s just a learning curve because it’s my first big meet on the international stage. So to be able to just take everything in and everything is kind of new.”
The 25-year-old from Gatineau, Que. set a national record in the 100m in her heats on Aug. 2 to qualify for the semis, but did not advance to the final. She now turn her attention to the 4x100m relay, Round 1 of which starts Aug. 8.