De Grasse Sprinted To Otherworldly Double

Andre De Grasse was a supernova in a pair of star-studded sprint fields at the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. 

De Grasse completed the 100-200 double in Eugene, Oregon, with blistering, wind-aided marks that left Hayward Field buzzing and turned the collegiate track & field world – and track & field world, in general – on its head six years ago. 

It all started in the 100, where De Grasse lined up against Trayvon Bromell, who clocked the second-fastest time in collegiate history in the semifinals the day before. Bromell went 9.90, which barely missed the collegiate record set by Ngoni Makusha of Florida State in 2011. 

There wasn’t much that Bromell – or the rest of the field – could do when De Grasse turned on the jets halfway through the race. De Grasse pulled away from the other seven men in the field to win by 0.13 seconds in 9.75 (+2.7), the fastest all-conditions mark in meet history. 

Less than one hour later, De Grasse returned to the track for the 200, an event in which he inserted himself into the national conversation late in the season. The Canadian won the Pac-12 title in 20.03 (-0.1), which marked a 0.13-second PR for him and vaulted him to the No. 2 spot on the NCAA Division I Descending Order List entering the NCAA postseason. 

De Grasse wouldn’t be denied the double, as he shot out of the blocks and ran the curve hard. He powered down the home straight and kept going – all the way to a 19.58 (+2.4) clocking that made him the fifth-fastest performer in world history, regardless of conditions (Only four men had bettered that mark: Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Michael Johnson and Walter Dix).