CBC Lite Sections Sports • Olympics Summer • Athletics Sprinter De Grasse clinches spot in Diamond League Final, joining fellow Canadians Arop, Mitton ROUNDUPDoug Harrison | CBC Sports | Posted: August 27, 2026 9:23 PM | Last Updated: August 28 2023 champion qualifies 7th in 8-man 200m field after placing 3rd in Zürich Image | Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse Caption: Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., crossed the finish line third in the men's 200 metres on Thursday in Zurich. (Tim Warner/Getty Images/File) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab It wasn’t his fastest 200-metre race of the season but enough for Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse to earn a fifth trip to the Diamond League Final next week. The 2023 Diamond League champion performed strongly over the final 50 metres at the Weltklasse Zürich meet on Thursday, reaching the finish in 20.03 seconds behind American Kenny Bednarek, who clocked a world-leading 19.62, and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile (19.82). It was De Grasse’s first 200 since a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet on June 26 in Zagreb, Croatia, where he won in 19.95. The Markham, Ont., athlete also prevailed in his 2026 season opener in 19.84 on April 26 at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix before a fifth-place showing May 31 at the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco. WATCH | Bednarek wins men's 200m, De Grasse headed to 5th Diamond League Final: Media Video | Caption: Kenny Bednarek of the United States finishes first in the men's 200-metre final at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Zurich, Switzerland, with a world-leading time of 19.62 seconds. Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., places third with a time of 20.03 seconds. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. De Grasse, 31, holds the Canadian record of 19.62 from his 2021 Olympic final victory in Tokyo. On Sept. 17, 2023, the seven-time Olympic medallist shocked the field at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., to become Canada’s first Diamond League Trophy recipient since Dylan Armstrong in shot put 12 years earlier. WATCH | De Grasse wins men's 200m at 2023 Diamond League Final: Media Video | Caption: Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., ran a season's best time of 19.76 seconds to win the 200m Diamond League title in Eugene, Ore. Fellow Canadian Aaron Brown of Toronto finished 6th with a time of 20.23 seconds. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. In his 2019 Diamond League Final debut, De Grasse was third (19.87). He improved to second two years later (19.72) and was sixth in 2022 (20.43). He will try to be the country’s first Diamond League champion since Sarah Mitton won women's shot put two years ago in Brussels. Belgium will also be the site of the Sept. 4-5 Final, with the men’s 200 field featuring Dambile, who topped this year’s standings with 42 points. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (30), Bednarek (24), Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba (24), Courtney Lindsey of the United States, (15) Cuba’s Reynier Mena (15) and Puerto Rico’s Jose Figueroa (10) also qualified for the eight-man race on Sept. 5. "I wanted to run a little bit faster, but honestly, I will take the win with 19.62," Bednarek said from Letzigrund Stadium. "You can say there can always be a better execution in the race but win is a win. "It is a good progress that I have made the entire season. We have got a few more races to go and we will see what happens with that." * De Grasse posts second 200m win of 2026 season under 20 seconds * Arop finishes 4th in men's 800m at Lausanne Diamond League Bednarek added this season is a stepping stone to next year's world championships in Tokyo. "We are working on small things so that when we get into the Olympics or the world championships, we execute at the right time," he said. Also joining De Grasse at the Final will be fellow Canadians Marco Arop in the 800 and Mitton. Arop placed third a year ago before taking bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Mitton was stripped of her Diamond League Final victory following a successful protest of her winning throw. The Brooklyn, N.S., native's second attempt measured 20.67 metres but, following a review by judges, Mitton was ruled to have stepped out of the throwing circle before the shot hit the ground, thereby making her throw invalid. It also appeared she clipped the front toe board. Mitton's second-best throw was 19.99, which bumped her to third place in the standings. WATCH | Full replay coverage of Weltklasse Zürich meet: Media Video | Caption: Watch full coverage of the Wanda Diamond League meet in Zurich, Switzerland. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Toronto native Lucia Stafford was the only other Canadian athlete competing Thursday. She was fourth in the women's 1,500 that wasn't a Diamond League points race in Zürich. Stafford's time of four minutes, 4.12 seconds was well shy of the 28-year-old's 4:00.83 season and personal best from May 31 in Rabat, Morocco. The two-time Olympian was also fourth in the mile final at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland on Aug. 1 after she won her fourth Canadian 1,500 title in June. Ludovica Cavalli of Italy won Thursday's race in 4:03.27, 3-10ths ahead of American Heather MacLean. Record-setting night in hurdles The reactions from Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell at the finish line some 40 minutes apart were slightly different but conveyed the same sentiment — they each were new world-record holders in the hurdles. Dos Santos stared toward the clock in amazement after finishing the men's 400m hurdles in Zurich. He immediately began pumping his right arm. His time: 45.80 seconds. * Pole vault star Mondo Duplantis releases 'Gold' as anthem for Ultimate Championship Later, the stage belonged to Russell, and she punctuated a blazing performance in the women's 100 event by holding aloft the index finger on her right hand. Her time: 12.09. Russell, the Olympic champion from the United States, took 3-100ths of a second off the previous world record held by Tobi Amusan, a mark the Nigerian set in a semifinal run at 2022 worlds in Eugene on her way to winning gold. "When I heard that Alison dos Santos broke the world record, in the back of my mind, I was trying to focus and lock in, but I knew the track was hot," Russell said. "I got a lot of motivation from him, for sure." WATCH | Russell takes down Tobi Amusan's world mark in women's hurdles: Media Video | Caption: American Masai Russell wins the women's 100-metre hurdles final at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Zurich, Switzerland, setting a world record of 12.09 seconds. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Dos Santos crossed the line to hold off the reigning world-record holder, Karsten Warholm of Norway. Warholm set the previous world mark at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, cracking the once-unthinkable 46-second barrier with a 45.94. That particular race was historically fast, with dos Santos running a personal best of 46.72, which was only good enough for third. This time, nobody was faster than dos Santos. 'Starting faster, finishing stronger' "I have no words to explain what happened other than I just broke the world record," the 2022 world champion said. "I have been showing a great form throughout the season, that I am fast, I am strong. We changed a lot of aspects of my training and racing in the preparation for this. I'm starting faster, I'm finishing stronger, and that is what I have to do to be able to break a world record." After the race, Warholm came over and gave him a congratulatory hug. He took losing his world record in stride. "I have got to get back to the drawing board and do something else," Warholm said after finishing in 46.69. "I still feel I can do something about it. I have been running 45.94 before. It is unbelievable. There is nothing more to say. It is a crazy event." WATCH | Dos Santos clocks 45.80 seconds to win men's 400m hurdles: Media Video | Caption: Brazil's Alison dos Santos won the men's 400-metre hurdles final at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Zurich, Switzerland, setting a world record of 45.80 seconds. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Russell started fast and never looked back to both hold off Amusan and rewrite the record. "Competing in a world-record race is amazing," Amusan said. "I came out here and I did my best and I am happy with this [season's best)]." Soon after gathering her thoughts, Russell posed with her right index over her lips. This was one performance that couldn't be silenced. "When I saw 12.09 … I just got so emotional," Russell said. "I dreamed about this moment for so long, and then hearing the crowd, like, this is the best place I could have ever imagined to break the world record." Bednarek was certainly impressed. "Crazy night," he said. "It's the first time I have been at the meet where I have seen so many records." Pole vault 'fireworks' to come Olympic and world champion Mondo Duplantis has broken the pole vault world record 15 times and utterly dominated the event, but Greece's Emmanouil Karalis has now emerged as a real challenger having found the courage to go toe-to-toe with the Swede. The pole vault has had a familiar feel in recent years. Duplantis wins the competition before going after his own world record, but there are signs that his one-man era could be at an end. On Thursday, Karalis and Duplantis both attempted the world record for the first time in the same competition. When Duplantis took the lead at 6.15 metres, Karalis responded with a personal best of 6.20 at the first attempt. After Duplantis cleared 6.25, Karalis upped the ante by raising the bar to 6.32, one centimetre above the Swede's world record set at his own indoor meeting in March. * Duplantis raises his pole vault world mark to 6.31 Karalis came close with his second effort and Duplantis thought he had done it on his third and final try only to throw the bar away in frustration when it followed him down to the landing mat. "Not every day two people contend for the world record, so that was nuts," Karalis said. "The difference between these heights is mostly mental. I have to break my mental barriers. In the next competition it will be mentally easier, I'm so happy I tried for it.” Image | Pole vaulters Armand Duplantis, Emmanouil Karalis Caption: (Sona Maleterova/Getty Images) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab At the Greek indoor championships in February, Karalis soared to 6.17 to become the second-highest pole vaulter in history, ahead of the legendary Sergey Bubka, and Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who held the record before Duplantis. Karalis then made two unsuccessful attempts at 6.31 to snatch the record, and his latest exploits make him the only realistic challenger to Duplantis. Duplantis suffered a rare defeat in June at the Stockholm Diamond League. On an off day for the Swede, Australia's Kurtis Marschall did not even need to clear 6.00 to take the win, but when Duplantis is anywhere near top form, nobody has come close, until now. * Pole vault star Mondo Duplantis releases 'Gold' as anthem for Ultimate Championship * More track and field coverage The two 26-year-olds have been competing against each other for over a decade, since Duplantis won gold at the 2015 World Youth Championships and Karalis took bronze. Karalis has truly arrived. Having been in Duplantis’s shadow for so long, September's final two events of the season could finally bring an upset as the pair meet at the Diamond League final in Brussels and the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest. "I think there's going to be fireworks," Duplantis said. "His jumping is amazing right now, so I have to bring my A-game. It's gonna take 6.20 or more to win, that's just the level that it is right now, which is really fun." 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