Canada's Andre De Grasse cruised into the semifinals of the men's 100 metres, winning his heat in a season-best time of 9.91 seconds.
TOKYO -- Canada's Andre De Grasse cruised into the semifinals of the men's 100 metres, winning his heat in a season-best time of 9.91 seconds in the fastest time on the night.
Running out of Lane 9, De Grasse glanced to his left with 10 metres to go before sailing across the line. His fast time is just 0.01 off his personal best set at the 2019 world championships.Complete coverage: Click for all the news from the Tokyo Olympics The sprinters had to overcome a nervy start to the race after two false starts, the second of which led to the disqualification of Nigeria's Divine Oduduru.The semifinals and final are Sunday.De Grasse will also run the 200 in Tokyo, the distance in which he won silver in Rio in 2016 and at the world championships.
The 100 metres is a great example of how bizarre these Olympics are amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the state of emergency in Tokyo, no fans are permitted in the 50,000-seat stadium, which, because of its multi-coloured seats, looks better on TV than in person. Media, officials, coaches and athletes were the only people in the stadium.