De Grasse’s golden run fueling local Olympic dreams

Williams Ogunnubi may have been sleeping when Andre De Grasse’s 200-metre gold medal sprint was happening Wednesday, but it didn’t take long to wake up and find energy once he saw the update scroll across his phone.

The 16-year-old sprinter from Saskatoon’s Riversdale Athletics Club says there’s just nothing that beats those 20 seconds after the gun sounds.

“I love watching it,” he said during a break from his summer job Wednesday.

“My family and I will all gather by the TV and be rooting the runners on. It doesn’t happen very often where track gets this kind of attention, but it’s so much fun when it does. It’s exhilarating.”

Ogunnubi and his family emigrated to Canada from Nigeria when he was six. It was around five years later when he joined his elementary school’s track team for the first time. He’s been hooked ever since, following the world’s top athletes and trying his best to follow the formula to success set before him.

Even though De Grasse’s race took less than 20 seconds — he set the new Canadian record of 19.62 — it could be the catalyst to fuel Ogunnubi’s Olympic dreams for years.

“Every part of it has you on the edge of your seat,” Ogunnubi, who also runs in the 200-metre sprint, said.
“It’s also really inspiring — if he can do it, I can do it.”

De Grasse’s blazing speed not only set a Canadian record, but it also put a Canadian atop the podium in the 200-metre sprint for the first in 93 years.

Riversdale head coach RossAnn Edwards said memberships and activity see a dramatic increase after every Olympics, and toppling such a longstanding record will only help.

“Going to track practice, (kids) are going to be buzzing about what’s happening,” she said. “(De Grasse) could have been my athlete, he could have been anybody’s athlete. He just has that demeanour about him.

He’s just caught Canadian people, kids to be on his side and think, ‘We can all do this.’”

Edwards drove Ogunnubi to a meet in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. He was begging to stream every race he could along the way.

That passion and fandom will only grow after a big moment like this.

“It was great to see a Canadian not only get on the podium, but get the gold. Canada isn’t a big track and field country, but to see it actually happen is amazing,” Ogunnubi said.

Edwards has met De Grasse and called him one of the most unassuming Olympic gold medalists. His humble nature, undersized stature and magnetic personality help make him a role model with young athletes, and Ogunnubi has plenty to learn.

“He’s got a lot to learn about taking care of himself, which comes with age,” Edwards said.

“It’s not just about being fast, it’s about taking care of yourself and doing the small things.”

With a few more seconds to shave off of his 200-metre personal best, Ogunnubi plans to follow every lesson set before him before trying to qualify for the 2028 Olympic team.

“He went to university for a couple of years and then he turned professional,” Ogunnubi said of De Grasse’s path to Olympic glory.

“Just try to follow that same pattern and then hopefully in maybe in 2028 I can follow his footsteps and join the Canadian Olympic team.”