(Montreal) Audrey Leduc and Andre De Grasse won the 100m final of the Canadian Track and Field Trials on Friday. If Leduc did it unequivocally, it was necessary to resort to a revision for De Grasse to confirm his victory.
Published at 7:32 p.m.
Frédéric Daigle
The Canadian Press
Leduc was imperial, winning in 11 seconds, 20 hundredths (11.20), 16 hundredths better than Ottawa’s Jacqueline Madogo (11.36) and Quebec’s Marie-Éloïse Leclair (11.44).
The sprinter from Gatineau thus formalized her selection for the Paris Olympic Games. Madogo and Leclair will accompany him for the 4 x 100 m relay. Madogo still has a chance of qualifying for the 100m, but she must wait for the results of the other National Championships held this weekend elsewhere on the planet.
“It’s really exceptional to experience this, especially in Quebec, in front of this crowd, in front of my family. I couldn’t ask for better,” said Leduc.
“This week I was watching the videos [du Comité olympique canadien] on how to finalize our preparations for Paris and I was starting to feel the excitement, so I said to myself that I would wait a little bit, until it was really done. Now I know and I am really happy.”
Leduc, who holds the Canadian records in the 100 and 200 metres, had covered the distance in 11.09 in the semi-finals.
“It’s still colder [que lors des demi-finales]said Leduc to explain the slower times in the evening. We stayed longer on the line to be introduced, it surely had an impact on the performance.
“I had no expectations, I was going to race and win. »
On the men’s side, there was confusion on the track at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. While De Grasse seemed to have crossed the finish line first – he raised his arms in victory – the scoreboard showed Beninese-born Ottawan Elizer Adjibi as the winner in 10.20, against 10.23 for De Grasse.
PHOTO CHRISTINNE MUSCHI, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse
After the video review, it appears that the lanes were mixed up, as De Grasse clocked 10.20 and Adjibi 10.23. Aaron Brown finished third, in 10.25.
“I was confused, I was sure I had won: I didn’t see anyone in my peripheral vision and I didn’t believe I had been passed by anyone in the outer corridors. It was a good joke! “, dropped De Grasse.
Adjibi, who arrived in Canada in 2012, seemed very disappointed with the turn of events, having already started celebrating on the track with the Unifolié, which he nevertheless graciously gave to De Grasse.
“I have no idea what happened, except that we all crossed the line at the same time,” Adjibi said. “The fact that it stayed like that for a little while, I thought I probably won. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s still a good race.”
Adjibi could, however, have won his place in the 4 x 100m relay.
“We have very good depth. There are some guys who surprised me here, whose names I didn’t know before, noted De Grasse. Eli will help us at the relay to try to bring back the gold. »
De Grasse, a six-time Olympic medalist and reigning Olympic champion in the 200m, declared earlier this week that he wanted to clock a time of less than 10 seconds at these National Trials, as he believes he is in his best physical condition since the Tokyo Games. . It wasn’t possible.
He ran 10.00 seconds last week in Finland on the 25the fastest time over this distance in 2024.
