Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse of Canada might not race the event at the world championships that start next week after a recent COVID-19 bout.
De Grasse said he’s hoping to race the 100m and the 200m at worlds in Eugene, Oregon, but the 200m, which comes after three rounds of the 100m, is “a game-time decision” as he gets his strength back, according to the Canadian Press.
De Grasse, who owns seven medals in seven career individual races between the Olympics and world championships, dealt with COVID-19 for the second time a month before worlds, spent three days in bed and felt out of breath ascending one flight of stairs, according to the report.
“I was pretty down and out,” he said, according to the Canadian Press. “And that first week of training when I went back, I didn’t feel great. Lungs, hard to breathe. It takes a lot to kind of get back. I had a cough, fatigue, things like that.”
De Grasse, who also dealt with a reported foot injury earlier in the season, ranks 50th in the world in the 100m and 74th in the 200m this year by best times.
At the Tokyo Olympics, De Grasse won the 200m in a Canadian record 19.62 seconds, which would rank third this year behind Americans Erriyon Knighton (19.49) and Noah Lyles (19.61).
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