Olympic champion Andre De Grasse: How adversity has shaped me into the man I want to be
Longtime athletics superstar Andre De Grasse could only hear one thing as he strode toward his first Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
"I do not hear anything but footsteps... people just tapping, their spikes tapping on the ground," De Grasse tells CBC in a recent exclusive interview.
"Once the race is over, it's like a weight lifted off my shoulders," the Canadian, now 29, says of his historic 200m triumph. "You know, just being able to just go out there and finally prove to yourself... that you belong and you're one of the best to ever do it."
De Grasse won his first world medal in 2015, and followed that up with a trio of Olympic medals at Rio 2016. But it took until 2021 for him to claim Olympic victory - and 2022 until he topped the podium at a World Championships, as he anchored Canada's winning 4x100m relay team in Eugene, Oregon.
The veteran sprinter says he's thankful for the many challenges he's faced in his storied career as he makes his way towards a third Olympic appearance - at Paris 2024.
"I've been very fortunate," he said. "I'm very grateful to have a lot of great moments and I'm grateful to have some not so great moments, but I think it's kind of shaped me into the man I wanted to be.
"I think I've learned a lot about being resilient and being strong and courageous and [to] keep going after my dreams and pushing the limits."
Andre De Grasse: 'There's always going to be ups and downs'
You name it, Andre De Grasse has faced it.
Coming off a career-best Worlds in 2019, De Grasse was hampered by a hamstring injury before the Covid-19 pandemic set in, derailing his hopes for a memorable Games. He'd have to wait another year for his triumph in Tokyo, before a toe issue and his own battle with Covid impacted his 2022 efforts.
De Grasse feels stronger because all of it, however.
"I feel like life is not a straight line... I mean, everybody is going to have to go through adversity," De Grasse said. "There's always going to be ups and downs. But sometimes you have to reflect on those bad moment because you have to see how you can get better from the situation."
After that Tokyo win and world championship gold, De Grasse isn't slowing down: He's navigated further challenges as 2024 has arrived, and says he'd like to break the Canadian national record in the 100m, a 9.84 mark held by both Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.
De Grasse credits his experience not only physically but mentally, too. Feeling under-prepared at Worlds in 2022, he opted out of the 200m to prioritise the 4x100m relay, which Canada would go on to win - a first for the nation in 25 years.
"I pulled out of the 200, my signature event, which obviously was a devastating at the time," he said of his decision-making in Eugene. "But I had to pick myself up and say, 'All right, guys, let's do this. Let's go win this relay and make it happen.'"
De Grasse defeats Marcell Jacobs
What comes next for De Grasse, who has proven he has global staying power season after season?
He kicked off his 2024 Olympic year with an impressive effort at the East Coast Relays in Jacksonville, Florida, winning both the 100m and 200m - including over the 2021 Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs in the 100m. He also beat two-time world medallist in the 100m, Trayvon Bromell of the U.S.
All three men train together in Florida.
De Grasse will be certain to factor among the top stars as Paris draws closer, and likely will harken back to what worked for him in that 200m Olympic triumph in Tokyo: Focusing on his lane - and going back to the basics.
"I looked down the track [and was] just locked in and focused on my lane," he recalled of the 2020 Olympics. "Everything is pretty much quiet in my brain. I'm not thinking anymore. I already know what the game plan is.
"I've done it a million times. All I'm really focused on is just reacting to the gun that."