André De Grasse

André De Grasse was born on 10 November 1994 in Scarborough, Ontario, and raised in Markham, the son of Beverley De Grasse and Alex Waithe, with three siblings. He tried many sports, including basketball, before finding his niche in track and field. His talent was noticed by the former Olympian Tony Sharpe, who invited him to join his Speed Academy club in Pickering. Sharpe later said that in terms of pure talent he had seen nothing like Andre De Grasse.

At the 2013 Canada Games he won three gold medals, in the 100, 200 and 4x100 metres. He went on to Coffeyville Community College, where he won five junior college titles, and to the University of Southern California, where he broke the 35-year-old school records in both the 100 and 200 metres. At the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto he won the 100 and 200 metres. He turned professional at the end of 2015.

At the Rio 2016 Olympics he made history, becoming the first Canadian sprinter to win three medals at a single Games. He won bronze in the 100 metres in a personal best of 9.91 seconds, Canada's first Olympic medal in the event since Donovan Bailey in 1996, silver in the 200 metres behind Usain Bolt after setting a Canadian record in the semi-final, and bronze in the 4x100 metres relay.

At Tokyo 2020, held in 2021, he again won three medals. He took gold in the 200 metres in a Canadian record of 19.62 seconds, the first Canadian Olympic gold in a track event since 1996 and the first in the 200 metres in 93 years. He also won bronze in the 100 metres, lowering his personal best to 9.89, and silver in the 4x100 metres relay.

In 2022 he won a world title with Canada's 4x100 metres relay team, and in Paris in 2024 he added Olympic gold in the relay, taking his total to seven Olympic medals, tied with the swimmer Penny Oleksiak as the most decorated Canadian Olympian. De Grasse is a member of the Order of Ontario, and he and his wife, the Olympic hurdler Nia Ali, run the Andre De Grasse Family Foundation.