Canada's men sprint to world 100-metre relay silver medal behind U.S. in rainy Tokyo

canadian river sprinters hank aaron robert brown, eusebius hieronymus william blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse picked up a second straight global championship medal in the rain, capturing silver in the world 100-metre relay on Sunday in Tokyo.

Anchor De Grasse battled Noah Lyles down the home stretch, but the American pulled away over the final metres to reach the finish line in a world-leading 37.29 seconds at Japan National Stadium.

Canada posted a season-best time of 37.55, with the Netherlands setting a national record in 37.81. The Canadian mark is 37.48, set by Brown, Blake, Rodney and De Grasse in their winning performance in the 2022 world final in Eugene, Ore.

Canada, which also won Olympic gold last summer in less-than-ideal race conditions, won its heat on Saturday in 37.85, finishing ahead of the U.S.

WATCH | Canada clocks season-best 37.55 seconds for men's 100m relay silver in Tokyo:

Canadian men close world championships with 4x100m relay silver medal

Post-race, Lyles suggested it wasn't smart for the Canadian foursome to shout 'USA, who?' following their Olympic victory in Paris, where he won 100 gold and 200 bronze. He wasn't in the American relay lineup for the final after testing positive for COVID and his teammates were later disqualified for an illegal pass on the first exchange between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek.

"I didn't get to show them who USA was," Lyles told Heroux on Sunday. "It's going to be fun in Beijing [at the 2027 worlds]."

Sporting a paper crown on his head, Lyles said Sunday's effort proves the Americans are the best in the world.

Coleman added the race outcome felt "like a relief because we know we're supposed to."

De Grasse praised Brown for a "great" pre-race speech Sunday.

"We're happy with the performance, almost a national record," he said. "We're consistent. We've won a medal almost every [global championship] since 2015 [bronze at worlds in Beijing]. I'm grateful to be part of it."

Blake joined the team in time for its 2021 Olympic silver behind Italy at Japan National Stadium. Two years ago, the Canadian men did not qualify for the world final in Budapest, Hungary, where De Grasse skipped the heats and his replacement, Bolade Ajomale, struggled badly down the stretch.

There was a great opportunity for Canada to capture gold on Sunday, 24 hours after powerhouses South Africa and Jamaica were disqualified in the heats, along with Great Britain and Italy, for botching the handover of the baton.

How long will Brown, Blake, Rodney and De Grasse remain a team at global championships for Canada? Earlier this week, De Grasse wondered if Tokyo would be the team's farewell appearance.

"The younger guys are coming," De Grasse said. "We have good alternates. Eliezer [Adjibi] just ran in the [world] 100m this year and we have Duan [Asemota] who won the Canadian [title on Aug. 1 in Ottawa]. I know those guys are hungry to get on the team."

On Sunday, De Grasse added: "So many great memories. I think all of us are going to cherish this moment. Obviously, we're a little bit disappointed but when we look back at it, we're going to be grateful and happy we came together. We've done this at such a high level for a long time.

"Amazing run and we look forward to worlds again in Beijing in 2027."

Earlier Sunday, the Canadian women's 4x100m relay team, fresh off a national record 42.38 in Saturday's heats, went 42.82 for seventh in the final.

The U.S. Captured gold in 41.75, followed by Jamaica (41.79 season best) and Germany (41.87).

At the World Relays in May, Sade McCreath, Jacqueline Madogo, Marie-Eloise Leclair and Audrey Leduc clocked 42.46 for fifth in the final. 

Canada appeared in the Olympic final a year ago in Paris, placing sixth in 42.69.

World Athletics Championships day 8 reaction; Marco Arop secures bronze in the 800 metres

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Get up to speed on what's happening in sports. Delivered weekdays.

---

---