Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse secured his spot in the Diamond League Final for the fifth time after finishing third in the 200-meter race at the Weltklasse Zürich meet. De Grasse clocked in at 20.03 seconds, with American Kenny Bednarek claiming first place with a world-leading time of 19.62 seconds and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile coming in second at 19.82.
This race marked De Grasse’s return to the 200-meter event since his victory in Zagreb, Croatia, with a time of 19.95. Earlier in the 2026 season, De Grasse also triumphed in the Botswana Golden Grand Prix with a time of 19.84 but finished fifth in the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco.
De Grasse, the Canadian record holder with a time of 19.62 from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, made history by winning the Diamond League Trophy in 2023, becoming the first Canadian to achieve this since Dylan Armstrong in shot put 12 years prior.
The upcoming Diamond League Final will feature a competitive men’s 200-meter field, including top contenders like Dambile, Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, Bednarek, Makanakaishe Charamba from Zimbabwe, Courtney Lindsey from the United States, Reynier Mena from Cuba, and Jose Figueroa from Puerto Rico.
After his impressive performance, Bednarek expressed satisfaction with his win and noted the potential for further improvement in his races leading up to the world championships in Tokyo next year.
De Grasse will be joined at the Final by fellow Canadians Marco Arop and Sarah Mitton. Arop, who finished third last year and won bronze at the World Athletics Championships, will compete in the 800 meters, while Mitton aims to reclaim her Diamond League victory in women’s shot put.
The competition in the Diamond League Final promises to be intense, with athletes like De Grasse and Karalis vying for top honors. Karalis has emerged as a formidable challenger to Duplantis in the pole vault event, setting the stage for an exciting showdown in the upcoming events in Brussels and Budapest.