Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse spent his Thanksgiving Monday at Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park, giving back to his community.
The Andre De Grasse Family Foundation was hosting a lunch for residents of the community, as well as up and coming sprinters from across the GTA.
For the elite athlete it’s hard to believe he’s hosting an event like this, after volunteering in the community eight years ago.
“Definitely I didn’t see this coming,” De Grasse said. “It’s been an incredible journey for me, you know, to be able to be an inspiration and be able to help these kids fulfill their dreams and turn their dreams into reality.”
Among the excited crowd of people, who lined up to have their picture taken with the Olympic medallist, was Destiny Emuze and his brother Divine. Fifteen-year-old Destiny Emuze found out last year that De Grasse’s charity was sponsoring his training – something that has changed his life.
“It’s crazy, cause like, you know, he's done so much for me and helped me financially, for my track and field.”
Destiny Emuze lives in Pickering, and while his long stride means he prefers running the 400 and 800 metre events, he likes to emulate his mentor.
“I still like doing 100 metre, 200 metre and I look up to Andre de Grasse and all that stuff and how fast he is, and I’m like ‘I gotta be like that one day.’”
Other up and comers at the Thanksgiving lunch couldn’t believe they were meeting one of Canada’s best sprinters. Nia Groves, 15, couldn’t even remember how her conversation with De Grasse went, but did say meeting him was, “an amazing experience.”
“Since I run track so I look up to him.”
Her teammate at The Speed Academy in Pickering, 16-year-old Shiloh Boswell, calls De Grasse a Canadian track idol, and sharing a nationality with him is a big deal.
“He means a lot to me, especially cause he's Canadian. So it’s more impactful because he's in the same country as me, and he runs for my country.”
De Grasse said in the wake of the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship and Bianca Andreescu’s U.S. Open win, people are paying more attention to what’s happening in Canada – calling this a moment for Canadian sports.
“I feel like a lot of people are noticing us, especially me living in Florida. When I tell people I’m from Toronto, they talk about, ‘oh, you guys won your first championship with the Raptors,’ so definitely people are taking notice and putting some respect on our name.”
After picking up a silver and bronze medal at the recent World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, De Grasse said his next goal is improving on his performance at the Rio Olympics
“I’m continuing to work hard on my individual events so that I can fulfill my goals and try to bring back a gold medal.”
The focus in his training ahead of Tokyo will be on being faster out of the blocks. He’s also working hard on keeping healthy so he can peak next summer.
For the people at his Thanksgiving event, De Grasse is already a champion in their eyes, and they’ll be cheering him on with the rest of the country as he makes his quest for Olympic gold.
