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Star springer De Grasse headlines Commonwealth Games athletics team

OTTAWA — Star sprinter Andre De Grasse will lead Canada’s track and field team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

OTTAWA — Star sprinter Andre De Grasse will lead Canada’s track and field team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Athletics Canada announced its roster of 46 athletes and para-athletes Wednesday. De Grasse, form Markham, Ont., has been nominated to compete in the men’s 200-metres and the men’s 4x100-metre relay.

De Grasse earned medals in both events at the 2016 Rio Olympics, claiming silver in the 200 and helping Canada’s relay team win bronze.

Canada did not nominate a sprinter for the men’s 100 metres, an event in which De Grasse earned bronze in Rio. But Athletics Canada said in a tweet that specific event entries for each athlete could be subject to change.

Decathlete Damian Warner of London, Ont., will look to defend the gold medal he won at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, while wheelchair racer Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., will try to top the podium after winning silver in the women’s T54 1,500-metres four years ago.

“As an athlete, there’s something different and special about the Commonwealth Games,” Roy said in a statement. “It has a very inclusive spirit as the para-athletes share training facilities, compete in the same stadium and live in the village with all of the other athletes and teams from the Commonwealth.

“Our medals are part of the overall medal count and I take a lot of pride in that.”

Glenroy Gilbert, a part of Canada’s Olympic champion 4x100 relay team in 1996, will serve as head coach.

Twenty-nine athletes on the Canadian team will be making their Commonwealth Games debut.

Canada will look to rebound after being shut out of the medals at the 2017 athletics championships in London. That disappointing performance came after Canada won six medals at the 2016 Rio Games.

Athletics competition will be held at Carrara Stadium, except for race walk (Currumbin Beachfront) and the men’s and women’s marathon (Southport Broadwater Parklands).

Canada:

Athletics — Mohammed Ahmed, St. Catharines, Ont., men’s 5,000-metres Shawn Barber, Toronto, men’s pole vault Aaron Brown, Toronto, men’s 200-metres, men’s 4 x 100-metre relay Rachel Cliff, Vancouver, women’s 10,000-metres Brittany Crew, Toronto, women’s shot put Andre De Grasse, Markham, Ont., men’s 200-metres, men’s 4 x 100-metre relay Evan Dunfee, Richmond, B.C., men’s 20 km race walk Sam Effah, Calgary, men’s 4 x 100-metre relay Crystal Emmanuel, Toronto, women’s 200-metres Sultana Frizell, Perth, Ont., women’s hammer throw’ Elizabeth Gleadle, Vancouver, women’s javelin throw Matthew Hughes, Oshawa, Ont., men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase Adam Keenan, Victoria, men’s hammer throw Genevieve Lalonde, Moncton, N.B., women’s 3,000-metre steeplechase Pierce LePage, Whitby, Ont., men’s decathlon Django Lovett, Surrey, B.C., men’s high jump Michael Mason, Nanoose Bay, B.C., men’s high jump Brandon McBride, Windsor, Ont., men’s 800-metres Tim Nedow, Brockville, Ont., men’s shot put Christabel Nettey, Surrey, B.C., women’s long jump Anicka Newell, Saskatoon, women’s pole vault Alysha Newman, London, Ont., women’s pole vault Nicole Oudenaarden, St. Albert, Alta., women’s heptathlon Brendon Rodney, Brampton, Ont., men’s 4 x 100-metre relay Nina Schultz, New Westminster, B.C., women’s heptathlon Gavin Smellie, Brampton, Ont., men’s 4 x 100-metre relay Gabriela Stafford, Toronto, women’s 1500-metres Taylor Stewart, London, Ont., men’s decathlon Taryn Suttie, Hanley, Sask., women’s shot put Deryk Theodore, Edmonton, men’s pole vault Benjamin Thorne, Kitimat, B.C., men’s 20 km race walk Alyxandria Treasure, Prince George, B.C., women’s high jump Damian Warnerm London, Ont., men’s decathlon Sage Watson, Medicine Hat, Alta., women’s 400-metre hurdles Jillian Weir, Kingston, Ont., women’s hammer throw Angela Whyte, Edmonton, women’s heptathlon Natasha Wodak, North Vancouver, B.C., women’s 10,000-metres

Para-Athletics — David Bambrick Wolfville, N.S., men’s shot put F37 Alexandre Dupont, Clarenceville, Que., men’s 1,500-metre T54, men’s marathon T54 Jessica Frotten, Whitehorse, women’s 1,500-metres T54 Adam Johnson, Toronto, guide George Quarcoo, Toronto, men’s 100-metres T12 Diane Roy, Sherbrooke, Que., women’s marathon T54, women’s 1,500-metres T54 Tristan Smyth, Maple Ridge, B.C., men’s 1,500-metres T54 Kevin Strybosch, London, Ont., men’s shot put F37 Kyle Whitehouse, St. Catharines, Ont., men’s 100-metres T38

Head coach — Glenroy Gilbert, Ottawa