Andre De Grasse made headlines just a couple of days ago at Paris 2024 when he qualified for the 200m semi-finals as a redemption for his failure in the 100m qualifying round just a few days earlier. However, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist De Grasse has not yet been able to turn around the bad luck he has been experiencing as he has crashed out of the semi-finals. The injuries have contributed to the demise of the Canadian sprinter’s dreams.
At the Stade de France, the 29-year-old star from Markham finished third in his heat with a time of 20.41. Despite this disappointing result for Andre De Grasse, the 29-year-old talked to TSN after the race and spoke about the re-aggravation of his hamstring injury that forced him to take one week off from training.
Unfortunately, it was a different outcome for Andre De Grasse. He did not qualify for the 200 metre final and won't be defending his Tokyo gold medal. Click the image below for more. #Paris2024 https://t.co/i2PzTxLOut
— CTV Your Morning (@YourMorning) August 8, 2024 
“It was gonna be tough today, I warmed up and I kind of didn’t really feel it but I knew I just wanted to try and try and do my best and see what I could come up with.”
“I didn’t realize (the injury) until after the 200-metre first round (on Monday),” he added. “I was warming up during the 200-metre heats, I thought it was just a little bit of soreness and then later that day, I got an ultrasound and just really enflamed the hamstring.
“They said I could go, gave me some meds for the pain and I just tried to come out here today and do what I could do but I knew it was gonna be tough to try to come away with a fast time.” De Grasse said to TSN.
It should be noted that De Grasse’s time in the semis was not more than a second slower than what he got in the Tokyo Games with a 19.62, which was his personal best at that time. Nonetheless, the values of these milliseconds are a testament to the severity of what athletes experience on a daily basis.
On top of Paris 2024 being a nightmare for De Grasse on the field, the Canadian star also had many battles to fight off the field. He had serious injury issues and his coach Rana Reider was removed from the Paris 2024 village after allegations of sexual and emotional abuse.
De Grasse spoke to the media and accepted that his coach caused a distraction and affected his preparations.
“I didn’t know the issue,” he said. “Of course, I left (him) back in 2023 when everything went down, he served his time, everything was good, I went back. My federation, everybody said it was good to go, he was all cleared.
“They gave him accreditation and all of a sudden I guess there was a new case. I knew nothing about it, kind of just sprung on to me the same time you guys knew. So of course that’s a tough one to swallow to try to just know about that right before you’re about to run.”
With the 4×100 relay opening round coming on Thursday morning, De Grasse said he’d “try to support my team any way I can.”
Bad Day At Office In Paris 2024
Besides Andre De Grasse’s disappointment, Canada also suffered a blow as Moh Ahmed failed to make it through to the 5,000-meter final as he did not advance from the preliminary round. After tripping over the leg of another runner in the last 400 meters, the 33-year-old experienced runner was knocked out of qualification.
The expectations for Ahmed were high after winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics, but the unfortunate incident that occurred in his heat derailed his pace, and he finished 16th with a time of 14:15.76.
"That really truly sucks"
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
After absolute carnage in his men's 5000m heat, Canada's Moh Ahmed has his appeal denied and will not make the final
More: https://t.co/vLT9YvMtLt pic.twitter.com/8NihRDcTbH
Ahmed was speechless after his heat and avoided speaking to the media but Athletics Canada released a statement.
“Unfortunately, while running in the pack Moh stood on the ankle of an athlete in front of him, which caused him to fall. We have watched the video several times with the WA (World Athletics) Video Referee and it was clear that Moh was not impeded or jostled before this happened and so it is considered his responsibility to avoid the athlete in front.
“In these circumstances, he could not be reinstated.”
As cool as you’d like
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 7, 2024
Marco Arop is headed to the 800m semi-final after a 1:45.74 performance in round 1
Marco Arop se qualifie pour la demi-finale du 800 m après une performance de 1:45.74 au premier tour.: Darren Calabrese/COC pic.twitter.com/yKriypDIv4
Despite disappointment for many of its star players, the Canadian team also had some positive results from unexpected players. In his heat of the men’s 5000m, Thomas Fafard advanced to the semi-finals with a time of 14:09.37, whereas Marco Arop qualified for the semi-finals after finishing second in his heat with a time of 1:45.74. Having been crowned world champion in the 800m, Arop is a big hope for Canada to win the gold medal.
