Toronto: Canadian sprinting sensation Andre De Grasse won his second Pan American Games gold medal in three days, but it was the United States that dominated the athletics competition on Friday.
De Grasse, two days removed from winning the marquee men’s 100 metres final, delivered a stellar performance in the 200 metres final as he crossed in 19.88 seconds to break his own national record and set a Pan Am Games mark.
“Last night all I needed was some rest. Once I got the rest, and I woke up this morning, I felt great,” said De Grasse. “I can’t believe I did it. Somehow I just managed to pull it off. I’m really happy about this.”
While De Grasse delivered yet another sprinting title for the host nation, it was the United States who stole the show in athletics as they won four out of the nine gold medals handed out on Friday.
American world champion David Oliver, who took a pass on a more prestigious Diamond League meet in London to compete in his first Pan Am Games, won the men’s 110 metre hurdles final, but not before having to run the distance twice.
Oliver did not hear the officials call a false start on Cuba’s Yordan O’Farrill and so sprinted full-out to the finish line along with another runner, only to wait 30 minutes before doing it all over again.
In his second attempt, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist smashed the Pan Am Games record, which he had set as a goal, with a time of 13.07 seconds.
“I am used to doing repeat 110s at practice, so I said ‘it would be like training’ and stayed focused’,” said Oliver. “When they said we had to go again, I was like ‘all right, let’s just strap it up and let’s get ready to rock’!”
The United States also captured athletics gold medals in the women’s 200 metres, men’s 1,500 and women’s 3,000 steeplechase.
With two days left in the multi-sport competition featuring countries from North America, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean, the United States strengthened their lead atop the medals table with 93 gold and 240 overall. Canada are second with 72 gold and 195 overall.
