by Sam Fariss
Andre De Grasse wins the Nike Pre Classic 100m, photo by How Lao Photography
In her final column on the Nike Pre Classic, Sam Fariss gave Canadian super star Andre De Grasse his due with his fine 100m win in Eugene, Oregon last weekend.
Eight men run the 100-meter in under 10 seconds
By Sam Fariss for RunBlogRun
EUGENE, Ore. РIn one of the strongest one-hundred-meter fields in history, eight out of the nine men entered into the Pre Classic race, finished with sub-10 second times. The field included Olympic second-place finisher from Team USA, Fred Kerley, and the Olympic third-place finisher from Team Canada, Andr̩ de Grasse.
De Grasse clocked in first at the 9.74-second mark and Kerley earned another second-place finish, just four one-hundredths of a second behind de Grasse.
The rest of the field was nothing to ignore. Finishing in sixth was 5-time Olympic medalist and 12-time World Championship medalist Justin Gatlin. Coming in at fourth was the first-ever man to break the 10-second barrier as a junior competitor, Trayvon Bromell. As well as Duck alum Cravon Gillespie and 400-meter specialist Michael Norman, and many more track and field stars.
“This field was magnificent. So many people ran under 10 seconds. It’s been a while since anyone has done that before, so it’s really good to be part of that conversation,” De Grasse said.
De Grasse was just one of two men that were not American competitors in the Diamond League race, the other being Akani Simbine of South Africa. With seven out of the nine competitors being from the United States, de Grasse certainly defied the odds of defeating every single one.
The third-place finisher, Ronnie Baker, is the world record holder for the indoor 60-meter event and clocked in at 9.82 seconds. Baker ran a 9.83 in Tokyo which made him the ninth fastest 100-meter sprinter in Olympic history and third-fastest American ever.
With a time of 9.74, de Grasse would have broken the Canadian record but the wind was measured at +2.9 which is far above the allowable 2.0 meters per second.
“I felt good to finally compete in front of fans. I felt like it got my adrenaline going. So I knew it was going to be a good day; a good race,” De Grasse said.
