OTTAWA – Canadian sprint star Andre de Grasse admits to being disappointed with another injury setback, which forced him out of the 200 metres at the national championships.
De Grasse, a three-time Olympic medallist at Rio 2016, suffered a hamstring injury during his semi-final heat of the men’s 200m at the Canadian championships on Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who had a late start to his season due to a hamstring problem, said he felt good during the warmup and felt he was prepared to run a fast time.
De Grasse looked good over the opening 150m but began to slow down afterward after he felt a pinch in his right hamstring.
“I’m not too sure what happened, I think it was just a cramp hopefully,” he said in The Star. “I think I ran a good 150 and then all of a sudden it just surprised me.”
After finishing third behind winner Aaron Brown in the 100m, De Grasse was confident about securing the 200m title.
However, he was left frustrated.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit (frustrating),” he admitted. “I felt like I was about to run a fast time, I felt pretty good in the warm-up, and then all of a sudden that happened.
“But it’s part of the game, you win some, you lose some, and you’ve just got to take your losses and come back strong and try to make the best of it.”
Brown went on to sweep the short sprint after taking the 200m title in 20.17 seconds, beating Jerome Blake (20.38) and Mobolade Ajomale (20.62).
De Grasse recently streamed into fatherhood after celebrating the birth of his daughter with his girlfriend, American two-time World Indoor 60m hurdles champion and Olympic silver medalist Nia Ali, on June 24.
