Canada's Andre de Grasse, Brendon Rodney, Jerome Blake and Aaron Brown celebrate after winning gold in the Men's 4 x 100m relays.Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters
Andre De Grasse and Team Canada earned a stunning gold medal in the men’s 4x100-metre relay Friday night, redemption for a group of sprinters who had been having a lacklustre meet at the Paris Olympics.
Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and anchor De Grasse were silver medalists three years ago in Tokyo. They came out and shocked the competition at Stade de France, clocking a season-best 37.50 seconds to step up to gold.
That makes seven Olympic medals for De Grasse, who is tied with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada’s most decorated Olympian. This latest, for the sprinter, was the most gruelling to earn.
“Number seven is special,” De Grasse said. “It’s going to show my grit and my hard work and my determination. … I can tell my kids and everyone else this one is probably the hardest one. … It wasn’t great, it wasn’t smooth sailing, like the last two Olympic Games, so it definitely feels like a great moment for me.”
De Grasse had amassed medals in all six of his events at his first two Olympics, but had failed to reach the final in either the 100- or 200-metre individual events in Paris. He’d complained of hamstring pain. His coach, Rana Reider, had been ousted from the Games amid sexual-assault allegations and the news made international headlines, adding a massive distraction mid-Games as the sprinter was peppered with questions about the coach.
None of his relay teammates had made an individual final in Paris, either. Brown was sick earlier in the meet and had been mortified after being disqualified in the first round of the men’s 100 metres for false starting.
De Grasse said he had not felt his best when he woke up Friday. He got treatment and his teammates lifted his spirits. “One last run,” they’d said.
“These guys, they just motivated me,” De Grasse said. “Try to be Andre De Grasse, man, just go leave it all out there.”
While preparing earlier Friday, they corrected a handoff between Rodney and De Grasse. They smoothed it out from a day earlier when it felt clunky in the semi-final. They felt good going into the final.
They drew Lane 9 on Friday, which some teams don’t like, but these Canadians didn’t mind. They began the race out front and avoided tight corners on the outside.
Coming around the final turn when Rodney handed off to De Grasse, Canada was third. The country’s most recognizable track star had struggled with an aggravated hamstring all week in Paris, but here, he found a way, pumping like his old self, propelling Canada past two competitors and over the finish line first.
The athletes slung Canadian flags around their shoulders and walked the stadium perimeter savouring it together for a long while, reliving their astonishing race, celebrating with family.
“Chemistry matters in the relay,” Brown said. “As much as people want to talk about foot speed and who’s the fastest legs, you can’t beat chemistry. … We lift each other up when we’re down.”
South Africa took silver and Britain won bronze.
The United States was disqualified after Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek botched the team’s first handoff, outside the handoff box.
American star Noah Lyles had not run because he had COVID-19. In the wake of Canada’s win, an old video resurfaced of Lyles mocking the Canadians at the world relays in the spring. When asked if he saw Canada as a threat in Paris, Lyles had laughed it off by saying, “Who? Who?”
Canada’s Blake was quick to reference that Lyles quip after Friday’s victory.
“I got one thing to say,” Blake said. “Canada who?”
De Grasse, Brown and Rodney had won medals together at Rio 2016, and Blake joined the team before they won silver in Tokyo three years later. Now they have completed the set.
This is not the first major international victory for the four men. They also won gold at the 2022 world athletics championships in Eugene, Ore.
They are the first men to win the 4x100 relay gold for Canada since Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert, Donovan Bailey, Robert Esmie and Carlton Chambers won at Atlanta in 1996.
The Olympic champs in Paris sang O Canada on the podium and then did as all gold medalists have at Stade de France. They celebrated by ringing the giant gold bell.
“These guys can do incredible things when we get together and put our mind to it. It showed today,” Brown said. “We can be in Lane 2, we can be in 9, we could be in the stands. It doesn’t matter. Give us a lane, give us an opportunity, these guys can make magic together.”
Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper in Britain is reporting that Reider is facing an allegation that he raped an athlete in the United States when she was a teenager. Reider, who had his Olympic accreditation revoked by the Canadian Olympic Committee earlier this week, is being sued in Florida by three athletes who used to train under him.
The allegations against the coach include sexual assault, sexual harassment and verbal harassment. The Guardian says one of those allegations involve an athlete, named as Jane Doe, who says she was raped by Reider during a training camp in Florida shortly after she turned 18. Reider denied the allegations in a 23-page defence filing. He also filed a counterclaim for defamation. The allegations have not been tested in court and Reider has not been charged with any crime.
The Call
Some sporting events are remembered for their iconic broadcasting calls. CBC announcer Mark Lee provided one for the ages for the men’s 4x100-metre men’s relay on Friday.
“Canada up in Lane No. 9. The final of the men’s four- by 100-metre relay in Paris. And they’re away! Christian Coleman attacking that opening bend. … Out front for Canada … Aaron Brown is holding off the Chinese, a good exchange! The Americans having trouble on that exchange! Down the back straight the Canadians storm … and Blake to Rodney … and Rodney has a great gap now on the Chinese! The Canadians so efficient … handing off to De Grasse. De Grasse has a chance here! De Grasse in the lead! Down the straight they go! Andre De Grasse, can he hold them off? Yes! Canada wins the gold in a massive upset here in Paris! … 37.50, a seasonal best. That’s what we’re talking about. They got the baton around the track faster than anybody else.”