Andre De Grasse continues quick start to season at North Florida Invitational

Andre De Grasse continued his quick start out of the 2021 gates on Friday.

The Canadian placed second in the 100 metres with a time of 10.05 seconds at the North Florida Invitational in the sprinter's training home of Jacksonville, Fla.

De Grasse opened his racing season with a 9.99 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on April 17.

"I usually don't open the season that fast. That's a sign things are going well in training," De Grasse told CBC Sports last weekend.

American Trayvon Bromell set the pace at 9.88 to win Friday's race, while Nigerian Divine Orduduru tied with De Grasse. No other Canadians were in the field.

De Grasse, of Markham, Ont., won bronze in the 100 at the 2016 Olympics and became the first Canadian ever to earn three sprinting medals by also taking silver in the 200 and bronze in the 4x100 relay.

The 26-year-old was one of only four men to run a sub-10-second 100 last year. His personal best of 9.90 was set at the 2019 world championships in Doha, Qatar.

Gold-medal favourite Christian Coleman won't compete in Tokyo as he is banned for missing three drug tests, opening the door for De Grasse to cross the 100-metre finish line in first place at the Olympics.

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