Canada’s Andre De Grasse wins 100 and 200 metres at Harry Jerome track meet

BURNABY, B.C. – Andre De Grasse was swarmed by a group of kids moments after crossing the finish line.

He posed for a selfie and signed a couple autographs, but had to run.

“One more race,” he said, still a little short of breath as he peeled away from the crowd. “One more race and I got you guys.”

De Grasse won the men’s 100 metres at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic on Friday night, and followed that up with another victory in the 200 about an hour later.

The Canadian sprint star finished the 100 in a time of 10.32 seconds into a slight head wind, followed by Joe Morris (10.41) of the United States in second and Kemar Hyman (10.48) of the Cayman Islands in third.

De Grasse then raced to a time of 20.46 in the 200 — with Morris (20.61) in second and fellow American Arthur Delaney (21.06) in third — before getting mobbed on the track for a second time.

“The kids are amazing. This is fun,” he said. “You never get the opportunity to do this. I love coming back home and competing.”

Meanwhile, Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., won the women’s 800 metres in a meet-record one minute 58.79 seconds. Brenda Martinez (1:59.89) of the U.S. was second, with Annie Leblanc (2:03.16) of Repentigny, Que., in third.

Bishop, who won silver at last year’s world championships, felt she had that time in her heading into Friday’s event.

“I think that’s where we’re at right now,” said the 27-year-old, who broke Diane Cummins’ previous Harry Jerome mark of 1:59.78. “The plan was to get to 600 (metres) and see what we had left. These are opportunities we have to fine-tune things going into Rio.”

Bishop is heading to Victoria for another event over the weekend, but it was De Grasse’s last competition ahead of Olympic trials next month in Edmonton before the Games in Brazil, which begin Aug. 5.

He has said his goal for Edmonton is to run sub-10 seconds in the 100, and sub-20 in the 200 — times he clocked last season, but has failed to achieve this year.

“I wasn’t looking for times here,” De Grasse said of Friday’s races. “I was just trying to get my fitness back and go into trials feeling good. That was the main goal for me.

“It was all about getting my fitness back and getting my legs back.”

De Grasse knows the races in the Alberta capital won’t be a coronation after Canadian teammate Aaron Brown recently clocked 9.96 seconds in the 100.

“It’s good for me. Everyone’s stepping up their game this year,” said De Grasse, who along with Brown should make up half of Canada’s 4×100 relay team in Rio. “It’s going to be competitive in both (the 100 and 200). It’s not going to be an easy task for me.

“Aaron’s ready, he’s hungry, he’s coming for me. I’ve got to be ready.”

In Friday’s other notable result, Canada’s Derek Drouin took the men’s high jump after clearing 2.20 metres. The reigning world champion from Corunna, Ont. — whose personal best is 2.40 metres — kept going after winning the event, but the 26-year-old wasn’t able to get over the 2.25-metre mark.

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