Andre De Grasse, of Canada, receives high fives from fans during the men's 200-meter heat at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Canada will finish without a sprinting medal at the World Athletics after reigning Olympic champion Andre De Grasse struggled to a sixth-place finish in the men’s 200-metres final.
De Grasse, who had reached the podium at every Olympics and world championships he competed in heading into Budapest, finished with a time of 20.14 seconds.
Noah Lyles of the United States was first in 19.52 seconds, followed by fellow American Erriyon Knighton (19.75) and Letslie Tebogo (19.81).
Earlier, Canada’s 4×100 relay team, minus De Grasse, failed to advance out of the heats and will not defend the title it won in 2022.
Things are looking more promising in decathlon, where 2022 world silver medallist Pierce LePage and reigning Olympic champion Damian Warner were second and third, respectively, after the first five events.
The final five decathlon events are scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2023.
