'It all starts here': Olympic champion 4x100m relay team begins journey to world championships

Last year's Paris Olympics provided immoderate unthinkable moments for Canadian track, arguably nary much thrilling than the gold-medal triumph successful the men's 4x100-metre relay final.

This weekend, that squad of Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Jerome Blake is backmost wherever their travel to Olympic golden began, the World Athletics Relays, and are anxious to erstwhile again usage the lawsuit arsenic a launching pad.

This year's conscionable successful Guangzhou, China, provides a nonstop pathway to the large lawsuit connected this season's contention calendar: the World Athletics Championships successful Tokyo successful September.

Relay teams tin suffice a spot astatine worlds by reaching their respective finals successful Guangzhou.

"It's ace important. It each starts present successful World Relays successful China," De Grasse said. "The main objective for america [is to] marque definite that we suffice … truthful that we are astatine the satellite championships erstwhile it matters."

Watch each the enactment from World Athletics Relays opening connected Saturday astatine 7 a.m. ET connected CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Click present for the afloat broadcast schedule.

After the highs reached by Canadian way athletes successful Paris, determination wasn't overmuch clip for them to drawback their enactment earlier the physique toward the satellite championships. Canadian caput manager Glenroy Gilbert says this weekend's contention is the cleanable spot for his athletes to zero successful connected the play ahead.

"You're ever driving towards the benchmark event," Gilbert said. "We're conscionable coming disconnected an Olympic year, truthful athletes' absorption oregon thrust [and] determination wanes a small spot due to the fact that of the full Olympic high."

WATCH | De Grasse connected expectations for the relay team: 

Canada volition beryllium looking to suffice men's and women's teams successful some the 4x100m and 4x400m events. Canadians volition besides tally successful the mixed 4x400m and 4x100m competitions, with the latter event making its debut astatine this World Relays.

"We're ever trying to suffice arsenic galore relays arsenic we tin for the satellite championships," Gilbert said. "So close present we evidently privation to springiness the athletes a affirmative experience, [and] a affirmative acquisition volition travel by mode of them performing good capable astatine slightest to suffice the spot.

"The large absorption volition beryllium successful Tokyo aboriginal successful the summer."

Zoe Sherar, Alyssa Marsh, and Kyra Constantine – three members of the Canadian women's 4x400m squad that won bronze astatine the 2024 World Relays – volition beryllium among those backmost successful enactment successful Guangzhou.

WATCH | The Canadian men's 4x100m relay squad wins gold successful Paris:

So, too, volition the World Relays metallic medallists successful the men's 4x100 – De Grasse, Brown, Rodney, and Blake. Guangzhou volition beryllium the 2nd conscionable of the play for the squad aft they won the Florida Relays successful aboriginal April.

De Grasse, Brown and Rodney person teamed unneurotic since 2016, with Blake joining the premix successful clip to assistance seizure Olympic metallic successful Tokyo successful 2021. A twelvemonth later, they combined to triumph the satellite rubric successful Eugene, Ore., earlier striking golden astatine Paris 2024.

Canada's 'secret weapon'

Gilbert knows what it takes to person sustained occurrence successful the relay. The 56-year-old was portion of Canada's Olympic gold-medal winning 4x100 squad successful 1996, arsenic good arsenic 2 satellite rubric wins. He believes the existent Canadian squad has developed a chemistry and familiarity that's "massive" to relay success.

"The much you tally together, the much flawless you become, particularly if everybody's engaged and everybody feels an accountability for their relation successful their portion of that relay," Gilbert said.

"We had the aforesaid concern 30 years agone with my team, but the aforesaid happening with these guys is being capable to absorption and enactment with what they request to do, recognizing that they each person to beryllium acceptable and they instrumentality that portion of it precise serious. The relay means a batch to them."

De Grasse agrees, but helium credits portion of his team's occurrence to Gilbert, who De Grasse calls their "secret weapon." 

"To person a feline similar Glenroy successful our corner, it's truly special," De Grasse said. "You know, you don't get that accidental a lot, to beryllium capable to person idiosyncratic that's done it earlier and knows what it takes and springiness america that mentorship and that enactment that helium provides."

Becoming Olympic champions mightiness pb immoderate teams to remainder connected their laurels, and instrumentality their ft disconnected the state pedal, but Gilbert says De Grasse and his teammates person turned the leafage connected 2024. 

"It's a caller race. It's a caller day. It's an accidental for them to spell up against the remainder of the world," Gilbert said. "The absorption is to suffice the spot. Fine tune, and sharpen the sword's borderline for the satellite championships – due to the fact that that's what truly matters."

De Grasse agrees – and believes that helium and his teammates' acquisition tin beryllium a affirmative without surviving successful the past.

"We person a satellite title nether our loop already. So we benignant of cognize what it takes to beryllium astatine our best. And if each 4 guys are moving good individually, erstwhile we enactment that squad together, it's going to beryllium unstoppable."

Important rookie reps

While qualification for worlds is the main ngo for Team Canada successful Guangzhou, determination is different extremity that won't beryllium recovered connected a elephantine placard that says 'QUALIFIED,' oregon connected immoderate results page. At least, not anytime soon.

The World Athletics Relays correspond important reps connected the satellite signifier for Canada's adjacent procreation of sprinters.

"I explained this to the younger guys – it is 1 happening to beryllium fast, and that's the prerequisite of having a bully relay. You request to beryllium fast, but the different portion of it is being capable to vie connected the satellite stage, which takes clip and experience," Gilbert said.

"It's not conscionable a foregone decision that you get successful determination and each of a abrupt you're hitting it retired of the parkland similar the different guys. It takes clip and that's what the camps and the vulnerability to a conscionable similar this is each about."

The Canadian roster is an intentional premix of returning veterans and caller faces, portion of the program to assistance make the adjacent harvest of sprinters, similar Duan Asemota, Eliezer Adjibi, and Malachi Murray.

"The 3 of these guys person been beauteous solid, benignant of been a staple … coming up down wherever the [current 4x100m] guys are now," Gilbert said. "I deliberation [they're] the large 3 that you'd astir apt person to look retired for."

The improvement of the adjacent procreation of relay sprinters is besides a large woody for De Grasse, too.

"I cognize a batch of the younger guys are coming up and they privation a accidental to beryllium themselves and get connected the squad arsenic well. So I look guardant to welcoming the caller guys that are coming to [the] relays, [and] getting to cognize them," helium said.

"[It's] a accidental for them to person their opportunity, and [I'm] conscionable trying to manager them and mentor them truthful that erstwhile the 4 of america are done, or possibly they tin instrumentality 1 of our spots, that they're acceptable for the challenge."

Full Canadian roster astatine World Athletics Relays

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