Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Andre de Grasse reveals how wife Nia Ali inspired him to Olympic glory at Tokyo 2020

The Canadian edged out Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles to finally grab gold in his fifth Olympic medal

Jack Rathborn
Wednesday 04 August 2021 14:50 BST
Comments
Shriever My Gold Medal Is A Perfect Opportunity For Other Bmx Riders

Andre de Grasse revealed how his wife and 100m hurdles world champion Nia Ali inspired him to finally take Olympic gold in the men’s 200m at Tokyo 2020.

The Canadian beat out Team USA’s star trio of Kenneth Bednarek, who took silver, Noah Lyles, who took bronze and 17-year-old super talent Erriyon Knighton, who finished fourth.

And after taking a silver and two bronze medals at Rio 2016 and the bronze in Tokyo behind Italy’s Marcell Jacobs and American Fred Kerley in the men’s 100m, the 26-year-old has revealed how Ali spurred him on to finally clinch gold after her gold medal at Doha 2019.

“I've been through so much in these five years,” De Grasse told BBC Sport. “On the track and off the track, I've become a grown man, in 2016 I was a kid, just trying to go out and make it happen.

“Now I can come away with medals, gold medals, just to show I'm back and my injuries are behind me, I'm good and ready to go.

Andre De Grasse of Team Canada celebrates after winning the gold medal (Getty)

“It's experience, it's definitely the experience, I knew the schedule would be tough, two rounds of the 200m on one day, I have to conserve energy, I can't blast out in the first round, I settled for third.

“Experience helped me a lot. I've been through this before, Rio and Doha, I know what to expect.

Andre de Grasse of Team Canada finishes ahead of Kenneth Bednarek of Team United States (Getty)

“I was so happy for her (partner Nia Ali) when she won the World Championships in Doha, the first to bring home a gold medal, it really motivated me and inspired me, to see how hard she works, she's a big inspiration to me.

“I've got to go out and do this for you and show I can bring a gold medal home too, I can't wait to go home.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in