The mother of Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse denied a report Friday that her son was in negotiations with a shoe company and would turn professional, forgoing his senior track and field season at USC, according to CBC.
“He is not a professional,” Beverley De Grasse said, according to the CBC. “He is not even signed to an agent. If the source isn’t my son or myself, then all it is speculation.”
De Grasse was earlier reported to be on the verge of turning pro, according to the Canadian Press.
The news came two days after Baylor sprinter Trayvon Bromell, who shared World Championships 100m bronze with De Grasse on Aug. 23, announced he turned pro.
De Grasse beat Bromell for the NCAA 100m and 200m titles on June 12 (in what NBC Olympics analyst Ato Boldon called the greatest single-day sprint double in history) before they clocked matching 9.92 seconds in the 100m final in Beijing, behind Usain Bolt (9.79) and Justin Gatlin (9.80).
De Grasse and Bromell, both 20, became the youngest Olympic or Worlds men’s 100m medalists since 2003.
De Grasse, a Markham, Ontario, native, reportedly started sprinting in May 2012, when he clocked 10.90 over 100 meters from a standing start while in basketball shorts.
He is now the third fastest Canadian all time in the 100 meters, trailing 1996 Olympic champion Donovan Bailey and two-time Worlds silver medalist Bruny Surin.
Canada hasn’t taken an Olympic men’s track event medal since Atlanta 1996, when Bailey won the 100m in a then-world record and anchored the 4x100m relay to gold over the U.S.
