As expected, six-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse appears to be nearing peak form a few weeks from the athletics competition at the Paris Games.
The Markham, Ont., sprinter dipped below 20 seconds over 200 metres for the first time this season, clocking 19.98 for the win on a warm, dry Tuesday evening at the Gyulai István Memorial — Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix in Székesfehérvár.
De Grasse’s previous best this season was 20.09 at the Ostrava Golden Spike on May 28 in the Czech Republic.
He ran under 20 seconds in the final two races of his 2023 campaign — Diamond League events in Brussels (19.89) and the Final at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., where he went 19.76. De Grasse’s wind-legal personal best is 19.62 from his 2021 Olympic final victory in Tokyo.
“I’m feeling like my old self again. I’m starting to get back my speed,” the world’s sixth-ranked 200m runner said two weeks ago in Montreal, where he won a Canadian title in the 100 in 10.20 following a 10.00 season best on June 18 in Turku, Finland.
De Grasse plans to race the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay in Paris.
“Every Olympic Games are different but … I’m just going to go out there, remain focused, and remember all the things that got me there,” he said in a news release recently.
Andrew Hudson of Jamaica was second in Tuesday’s race in 20.37, followed by American Kendal Williams (20.52). Jerome Blake of Kelowna, B.C., placed fifth in the eight-man field in 20.56.
WATCH | De Grasse clocks season-best 19.98 seconds over 200m:
Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., posted a time of 19.98 to win the men’s 200-metre race at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. Fellow Canadian Jerome Blake was 5th.
13th win for Katzberg in 2024
Ethan Katzberg also remains in winning form 26 days from the men’s Olympic hammer throw final.
He earned his 10th victory in as many competitions this season, with a 81.87-metre throw at Tuesday’s World Athletics Continental Tour Gold track and field meet.
The Nanaimo, B.C., athlete has won 13 events in a row dating to a second-place performance last June 18 at the Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial in Poznan, Poland.
Katzberg, 22, is the world’s top-ranked men’s thrower and will compete as an Olympian for the first time next month.
He won a world championship silver medal two years ago in Birmingham, England before reaching the top of the medal podium at last year’s worlds in Budapest, Hungary.
Katzberg also collected Pan Am Gold last November in Santiago, Chile, repeated as Canadian champion two weeks ago and boasts the national record throw for men at 84.38.
Ukraine’s Mykhalo Kokhan finished second on Tuesday with a throw of 80.50 ahead of Poland’s Wojciech Nowicki (79.36).
WATCH | Katzberg rules hammer throw in Hungary with 81.87m toss:
Reigning world champion Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., won the men’s hammer throw competition at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.
Meanwhile, Vancouver runner Kieran Lumb, who was initially entered in the men’s 3,000 on Tuesday, decided to withdraw and focus on his training ahead of his Olympic debut.
The 25-year-old told CBC Sports he will run “a few” 800m races this month in Belgium.
Lumb won a second straight Canadian title in the 1,500 to solidify his spot on the Olympic team, prevailing over Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who will make his second Summer Games appearance and first since 2016 in Rio.
WATCH | Full coverage of Gyulai István Memorial — Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix:
Watch the world’s top track and field stars compete at the World Athletics stop in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.