The International Olympic Committee announced Thursday the Canadian men’s 4x100m relay team from Tokyo 2020 will be upgraded from the bronze medal to silver.
The change comes after the disqualification of the team from Great Britain, whose second-place finish was officially revoked after one of its members tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.
The Canadian relay team includes Jerome Blake of Burnaby, B.C., Aaron Brown of Toronto, Andre De Grasse of Markham and Brendon Rodney of Etobicoke.
They posted a season best time of 37.70 seconds to originally finish in third place behind Italy and Great Britain, edging out China at the finish line. The Chinese team will be upgraded to the bronze medal.
“Jerome, Aaron, Andre and Brendon are incredible ambassadors for Canada and the Olympic Movement,” said Canadian Olympic Committee President Tricia Smith in a statement.
“We are delighted that they will be upgraded to the silver medal they earned in the men’s 4x100m relay at Tokyo 2020. While it’s disappointing that we are still seeing doping cases robbing athletes of their moment at Games, this reinforces the importance of integrity and safeguarding clean sport.”
Tokyo 2020 marked the second straight Olympic Games where Team Canada won a medal in the men’s 4x100m relay.
The medal from Tokyo 2020 is Canada’s fourth-ever Olympic medal in the event, coming 25 years after the legendary gold medal at Atlanta 1996.
