Andre De Grasse wins bronze medal in Olympic men’s 100m

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — Canada’s Andre De Grasse ran his fastest 100-metre time ever to capture the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

De Grasse’s father is Barbadian.

De Grasse finished the race in 9.89 seconds, while Italy’s Lamont Jacob’s took the gold in 9.80. The silver went to the Fred Kerley of the United States.

De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., is Canada’s first male athlete to win an Olympic medal in Tokyo.

At about 60-metre mark, De Grasse seemed to be out of the race before making a valiant charge down the stretch but ran out of room.

De Grasse also won the bronze at the 2016 Rio OIympics.

Coming into Sunday’s final, De Grasse had clocked under 10 seconds just once in seven races this year.

But as he has throughout his career, De Grasse delivered his biggest performance on the world’s biggest stage, breaking 10 seconds three straight times here in Tokyo on his way to winning the bronze.

It was clear right from the beginning that it was going to take something special to win this race.

A blazing final was expected after all eight qualifiers ran 10 seconds or faster during the semifinals, including 9.83 by China’s Su Bingtian and Ronnie Baker of the United States.

De Grasse ran 9.98 in his semifinal race on Sunday.

Trayvon Bromell, the American pre-race favourite, failed to make it through to the final.