Andre De Grasse, Canada earn bronze in 4x100 relay after U.S. disqualified

RIO DE JANEIRO – Canada learned the hard way in 2012 the madness that can take place in a relay. The jubilation that swept over the Canadian relay team that placed a third-place finish at the London Olympics in the men’s 4x100 metres was replaced with sorrow after a disqualification because of a lane violation.

The opposite played out Friday night in Rio. Andre De Grasse had no chance of catching Usain Bolt down the stretch – who claimed his ninth Olympic gold medal as Jamaica put forth a time of 37.27 seconds – but a medal was still within his grasp. He came up just short, crossing the finish line to give Canada a national record time of 37.64 seconds, but 0.04 seconds behind Japan and 0.02 seconds behind the United States for fourth place.

But the results of a relay can never be taken at face value. There are so many moving parts that with eight teams and 32 sprinters on the track the odds of something going wrong are good. This time it was the Americans, already doing a lap around the track with the Stars and Stripes, that were disqualified, Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin judged to have performed an illegal baton exchange.

Bronze belonged to the Canadians. De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Akeem Haynes found out like everyone else: while watching on TV.

"We were in the middle of an interview, talking about the race on video and talking about getting fourth with the national record and then it turns out we got the bronze so it changed our reaction a lot," said Brown.

"When we came fourth, it was a little bit disappointing. When we got the upgrade to bronze, that cheered our spirits up and we started smiling,” said De Grasse.

They didn’t have enough time to locate flags and go celebrate on the track, but given the nation's recent history in the event, earning a medal was more than enough to make up for it. Along with the Olympic heartbreak four years ago, Canada has had relays team disqualified at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Pan Am Games. De Grasse, Brown, and Rodney weren’t there in London but they can relate having felt the pain of falling off the podium at the Pan Ams in Toronto last year for the same reason.

"I’m just happy to be on the good side of the DQ this time,” said Brown. "I saw an article about the ghost of the 2012 relay team and it was in the back of my mind that I wanted to get this medal back for them."

While the U.S. team filed an appeal, it was announced that the decision would not be overturned several hours after the race.

The bronze is De Grasse’s third medal in Rio – with a bronze in the 100 metres and a silver in the 200 metres – closing out a historic Olympic performance. The record relay time betters the 37.69-second mark set by Donovan Bailey's Canadian team at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and De Grasse is the first Canadian Olympian with three medals in track and field since 1932.

"I came into these Olympics saying I want to win three medals and I’ve done that. It’s a dream come true for me," said De Grasse. “Next time around I want to upgrade those medals.”

With the man who has dominated De Grasse’s disciplines leaving the Olympic stage after yet another jaw-dropping performance, the opportunity will be there at Tokyo 2020 for De Grasse to do exactly that.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr