Andre De Grasse fulfilled a lifelong dream Wednesday night in Tokyo, by winning an Olympic gold medal.
Needless to say, it was hard to get to sleep.
Just 14 hours after winning the 200-metre final, De Grasse was back on the track with the Canadian 4×100-metre relay team, which was looking to qualify for Friday’s final.
Andre hadn’t even picked up his gold medal yet.
“I couldn’t sleep,” De Grasse said in a television interview with CBC. “Last night, I was just so excited and so pumped up. I got like two hours of sleep. But I was like, ‘I gotta try to refocus and get ready for the relay. It was just so hard. I was just so ecstatic.”
De Grasse didn’t look sleepy in the relay, as he brought Canada from fifth-place to being neck-and-neck with China for first in the heat. It qualified the team of De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, and Brendon Rodney for the final (Friday at 9:50 am ET/6:50 am PT on CBC), giving them a chance at a medal.
De Grasse is looking for his third Olympic medal in Tokyo and the sixth of his career. He won silver and two bronze medals in Rio and has a gold and a bronze medal in Tokyo.
"Proud moment for the maple leaf" #Tokyo2020
Andre De Grasse's moment has finally arrived as he receives his Olympic gold medal 🇨🇦
Watch the medal ceremony https://t.co/mOMMzHWLGo pic.twitter.com/i91d9E7Ao3
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 5, 2021
De Grasse eventually picked up his gold medal, standing at the top of the podium alongside American sprinters Kenneth Bednarek (silver) and Noah Lyles (bronze).
“It feels great,” De Grasse said to CBC afterwards. “It’s heavy. My neck’s hurting a bit! But it’s all worth it. This is an amazing feeling. It feels surreal, and I can’t believe I’ve got my first Olympic gold medal.”
“It’s finally a dream come true.”