TORONTO — Andre De Grasse has a gold medal around his neck and he’s clutching a stuffed porcupine, shifting from white-and-red Team Canada shoe to white-and-red Team Canada shoe.
This must be what his mom, Beverley, means when she says he’s shy and doesn’t like a lot of attention. And it’s true, the 20-year-old from Scarborough, Ont., is very soft-spoken.
But this is a little different. He’ll admit it, minutes after draping a Canada flag around his shoulders and running around this track, high-fiving fans: the attention wasn’t so bad. “I’m enjoying this,” De Grasse says, grinning.
As he should.
Sprinting’s newest phenom delivered — huge. At home. At the biggest international meet of his career. In track’s glamour event, home to the title of World’s Fastest Man. When everyone was talking about him. When everyone in this capacity crowd at York University was looking at him.
After a slow start, De Grasse sprinted down Lane 5, then leaned over the line in a time of 10.05. He looked up at the video board to make sure he’d won. And then that smile took over, and the crowd roared as he pumped his fists and clapped.
Just like that, in 10.05 seconds (slower than his semifinal heat time of a wind-assisted 9.97s) Canada has a defining moment in a home Pan American Games. And it came on the 171st medal.
And just like that, Canada has a reason to be excited about sprinting for the first time since Donovan Bailey. And it’s because of a kid who doesn’t really look like a sprinter, at 5-foot-9 and 159 pounds with a tiny waist. According to coaches, he doesn’t have the pomp and confidence you associate with a sprinter either, even if he has diamond studs in both ears.
He’s no good at bragging. “It’s been great,” a grinning De Grasse says, clutching his Pachi stuffed doll, standing in front of a swath of Canadian media. He’s wearing a red Team Canada zip-up and grey sweats. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at home in front of family and friends. This has been the greatest time in my life right now. I’m really happy about it.”
Here’s the best news of all: De Grasse isn’t anywhere near as fast as he’s going to get. He’s only been sprinting three years and he hasn’t even really been weight training. Says his coach at USC, Caryl Smith Gilbert: “Imagine what this kid can do if he works hard.” He’s training through these Pan Am Games, working to peak for the world championships next month in Beijing.
Smith Gilbert is a six-time Conference USA Coach of the Year who’s coached sprinters to 32 individual NCAA titles. And she has never seen a raw talent progress as fast in sprinting as this young Canadian kid has.
“Andre De Grasse is something special,” Smith Gilbert says. “I’ve never seen it, I don’t know if I’ll see it again.”
The coach says she has to teach De Grasse something only once or twice. Then it sticks. He’s coachable, on top of his natural talent. “He’s a great athlete,” Smith Gilbert says. “He’s not just fast.”
De Grasse excelled in basketball — where he earned the nickname, ‘Tip’ — and soccer and baseball before he stumbled into track. And he literally stumbled into it.
He famously only picked up sprinting three years ago, running his first-ever race without the use of starting blocks — he just turned sideways, like you did in grade school to start a sprint — and in borrowed cleats and basketball shorts.
That first meet, where he was spotted by an Olympic coach? It happened right here, at York’s practice facility.
The real test for De Grasse, of course, comes in August in Beijing, when he’ll line up against Usain Bolt and more of the world’s fastest at the world championships.
And finally we Canadians will have a homegrown reason to watch.