Washington: Andre De Grasse intends on being a major part of the sprint show at the Tokyo Games.
But only if it's postponed by a year.
Otherwise, Canada's fastest man won't be allowed to take to the starting line, even if he wants to.
Stunned at first, De Grasse told The Associated Press he understands Team Canada's decision to not send a team to the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic unless the Games were delayed a year.
"It's going to be a bummer and a disappointment if the Olympics went on without us," said De Grasse, who has seven Olympic and world championship medals to his credit.
"Having the Olympics (in 2021), that's all I can really hope for moving forward."
This was supposed to be his year -- his first chance for Olympic gold without Usain Bolt looming a few steps away. Only now a new crop of talent has arrived on the scene in Americans Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles.
It's shaping up to be quite a showdown. Potentially, anyway.
Although De Grasse wasn't contacted individually by Team Canada in regard to its decision, he did receive a survey.
He didn't fill it out.
"I didn't know how I felt about the situation at the time,'' De Grasse explained. "I was letting it go and playing it by ear day-by-day and seeing if this things got better.
