Andre De Grasse had classiest response to American trash talk after Olympic gold
Lots has been made of American sprinter Noah Lyles trash-talking the Canadian relay team ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, but Andre De Grasse isn’t willing to return fire.
After De Grasse captured Olympic gold in the men’s 4 x 100-metre relay alongside Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Jerome Blake, video surfaced of Lyles disrespecting Canada at the World Athletic Relays back in May.
Following Canada’s Olympic victory, plenty of backlash came Lyles’ way with even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau getting in on the action.
With all the attention, you would think that De Grasse would want to get some words in for Lyles as well, but when he was asked about it during a segment on CBC, the 29-year-old runner decided to take the high road.
“I like what he’s doing for the sport,” De Grasse laughed. “It’s bringing eyes to the sport, he’s very competitive, his personality is big, that’s what we need.
“It’s good to have the rivalry between, you know, him and myself and even Canada versus the US I think it brings back gusto like the old days… he definitely motivates me a lot to bring out my best.”
FOMO hosts @Iamjemeni and @strizzzy ask Andre De Grasse about Noah Lyles 🇨🇦🇺🇸👀
Check out the full interview on today's episode of Olympic FOMO pic.twitter.com/Hx6aPrfSPB
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
De Grasse and Lyles have been facing off against each other all Olympics long. Lyles was able to get the better result in the men’s 100-metre race, winning a gold medal while De Grasse failed to make it to the final. Lyles also captured a bronze medal in the men’s 200 metres, which De Grasse also failed to qualify for the final.
Yet, after getting sidelined with COVID, Lyles was forced to sit out the relay, in which the Canadians went on to win after the American team was disqualified early in the race after a botched hand-off.
The 37.50-second time put in by the Canadians was a season-best for the group.
What a race by Canada! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Surprise gold medal by the 4x100m relay. Andre De Grasse raced despite a nagging hamstring injury. pic.twitter.com/zLG3Izcxfc
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) August 9, 2024
Lyles has become known in the running circuit for the larger-than-life persona that he brings to the track. Though it can sometimes lead to situations where it comes off as disrespectful, as it did with many Canadians this time around, there is no doubting just how talented of a runner he is.
De Grasse taking the high road and opting to praise Lyles rather than return the trash-talk proves yet another stereotype of Canadians being among the nicest people on the planet.
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