Andre De Grasse (The Canadian Press)

By The Canadian Press

fast progress

De Grasse qualifies for 200m semifinal as volleyball, water polo teams defeated

Aug 3, 2021 | 8:58 AM

Canadian Andre De Grasse took a step toward his goal of winning a second Olympic medal in Tokyo on Tuesday as the country’s men’s volleyball and women’s water polo teams suffered defeats.

De Grasse and Aaron Brown both secured their spots in the men’s 200-metre semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics.

Brown, a 29-year-old from Toronto, easily won his heat in 20.38 seconds to qualify, while De Grasse was third in his heat in 20.56.

Brown’s time was the eighth fastest on the morning, while De Grasse was 16th.

De Grasse won bronze in the 100-metre on Sunday and is the reigning Olympic silver medallist in the 200. The semifinals take place later Tuesday.

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De Grasse has been working on improving his speed and endurance this season to prepare for the 200 in Tokyo, which requires him to run two rounds in one day.

Kyra Constantine of Toronto clinched a spot in the women’s 400 semifinals. Constantine was fifth in her heat, but her time of 51.69 was fast enough to advance.

There was less success for the men’s volleyball team, which lost 3-0 to the Russians in the quarterfinals. It was a bit of deja-vu for the Canadians, who were eliminated at the same point in the tournament five years earlier in Rio.

Gord Perrin led with 15 points as Canada lost to the Russians 25-21, 30-28, 25-22. Ryan Sclater added 14 points for Canada, which opened the tournament with back-to-back losses to Italy and Japan before recovering with wins over Iran and Venezuela. A loss to Poland closed out the preliminary round for the Canadians.

But while the result is the same on paper, Canada’s Nicholas Hoag says the team has evolved since the loss in Rio.

“You can tell that this game was way more competitive than the one in Rio,” said Hoag, who had 10 points. “It was so much fun to play. We were more comfortable today and we know we can beat those guys.

“There’s no regrets because we had a great tournament overall.”

The Canadian women’s water polo team didn’t fare any better, falling to the mighty U.S. squad in the quarterfinals by a score of 16-5.

The back-to-back gold medallists set the tone early, pulling ahead 5-0 on as many shots. They kept the pressure on throughout the first half, building a seemingly insurmountable lead of 11-3.

The Canadians, in their first Olympics since 2004, had one win and three losses in the preliminary round.

The team’s preparation was complicated, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the players isolating themselves from their families in order to form a bubble that would allow them to train with contact.

They’ve been on the road since May, and garnered an impressive fourth-place finish along the way at the FINA Women’s Water Polo World League Super Final in June.

Canadians also missed the medal podium in canoe and kayak spring events. Andréanne Langlois finished ninth in the women’s kayak single 200-metre on Tuesday, while fellow Canadians Roland Varga and Connor Fitzpatrick finished sixth in the A final of the men’s canoe double 1000-metre.

Several events were still to come on Tuesday. Gymnast Ellie Black was set to compete in the beam event, while Richmond, B.C.’s Camryn Rogers was set to take part in the Olympic hammer throw final. The women’s cycling track team was set to compete for a bronze medal in the team pursuit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2021.

The Canadian Press