Canada wins gold in men's 4x100m relay at World Athletics Championships

Twenty-six years after Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey captured gold for Canada in the men's 4x100-metre relay on a Saturday night in Georgia at the 1996 Olympics, another Canadian quartet of runners have struck gold again — this time on a Saturday night in Eugene. 

With a boisterous American crowd going crazy for the heavily-favoured U.S. track team at the World Athletics Championships, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse ran the race of their lives to win gold for Canada. 

Their time of 37.48 seconds is the fastest in the world this season and a new Canadian record. 

"It means everything. We've been talking about this for a few years now. Last year at the Olympics. It feels good to get it here. A lot of Canadian fans here so it almost feels like home soil," De Grasse said. 

The United States finished second in a time of 37.55, while Great Britain won bronze with a time of 37.83.

WATCH l Canadian men golden in 4x100m relay at athletics worlds:

It's the first time a Canadian men's relay team has won gold on American soil since those 1996 Atlanta Games. It also marks the sixth time Canadian men have won a relay medal at the world championships — three gold, three bronze. 

The fans at Hayward Field were stunned as De Grasse outran American Marvin Bracy to get to the finish line first — De Grasse threw his hands in the air in celebration. 

He finished in a time of 8.79.

His effort is even more remarkable considering he had COVID-19 less than a month ago. He chose to sit out the 200m event  — he's the reigning Olympic champion in that event. 

But De Grasse put team and country ahead of any individual aspirations at worlds to ensure he'd be rested for the relay. 

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