De Grasse & Co. relishing down time, chance to focus on off-track endeavours
TORONTO — Canada’s men’s sprint story at last month’s world track and field championships began with the disastrous news that Andre De Grasse was out with an injury. It ended with the 4×100-metre relay team crossing a distant sixth.
Now, heading into an off-year in the sport, with no Olympics or world championships, Canada’s fastest men are taking a break and slowing down.
De Grasse and his relay teammates will spend part of the next few weeks hosting a series of six-minute walks across Canada to raise awareness for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a rare and fatal lung condition. Six minutes, explained Akeem Haynes, because “respirologists use the six-minute mark as a judgement to see if the disease is progressing, and because six minutes seems like a marathon for (sufferers).”
De Grasse, Haynes, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney met with the media in Toronto on Wednesday to talk about their work with IPF, part of a welcome competitive break after a largely disappointing season.