Canada claims bronze in 4×100 relay and breaks a 20-year-old national record

RIO DE JANEIRO – Andre De Grasse picked up his third medal of the Rio Olympics as Canada’s 4×100-metre relay team won bronze in a Canadian-record time.

De Grasse teamed with Akeem Haynes of Calgary, Brendon Rodney of Brampton, Ont., and Aaron Brown of Toronto to finish in 37.64 seconds, breaking the mark set by the gold-medal winning team anchored by Donovan Bailey at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

De Grasse, the star sprinter from Markham, Ont., ran a blistering anchor leg, but it looked like Canada was going to have to settle for a fourth-place finish before the United States was disqualified.

De Grasse also picked up a silver medal in the men’s 200 metres and a bronze in the marquee 100 metres in Rio.

It’s redemption for Canada, which appeared to have won bronze in the 4×100 at the London Games before being disqualified for a lane violation.

Jamaica finished first in 37.27 seconds, giving superstar Usain Bolt his ninth Olympic gold medal. Japan was second in 37.60.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had the wrong time for Japan.