In the marquee event at the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa, Olympian Duan Asemota reminded the nation (once again) why he’s one of the country’s most electrifying sprinters.
Coming off a year that pushed him to his physical limits to reach Paris 2024, Asemota wasn’t seen as the clear Canadian 100m favourite. But on Friday night, he silenced the doubters, while talking the talk and walking the walk.
With Jerome Blake, the fastest Canadian in 2025, disqualified for a false start in the semis, and Andre De Grasse out with a hamstring issue, Asemota emerged from the semis with the top qualifying mark for the final. Two hours later, Asemota blazed to a season’s best of 10.12 (-0.5 m/s) to win the Canadian 100m title.
Though Canadian sprint veteran Aaron Brown finished just one-hundredth of a second behind him, the race never felt close. In fact, Asemota was even seen glancing over and barking at Brown and Malachi Murray in the final 10 metres.
“Aaron’s been my biggest mentor since the start, but I had to show him it’s my time now,” Asemota told Canadian Running post-race. “I told him all week he’s a little too old to be there. After the first round, I was asking if he was heading home for a nap.”
The 28-year-old from Ajax, Ont., was coming off a tough 2024, where he finished just off the podium at nationals and was selected for the Olympics, but did not advance out of the 100m heats. “It was difficult to be at the Olympics and not be 100 per cent,” Asemota admitted. “I knew afterwards I just needed to get healthy.”
Now back to full form, Asemota secures his second senior national title—his first in the 100m, following a win in the indoor 60m this past March.
“I just want to dominate the sprints in Canada,” he said, smiling.
For full results from the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships, or to see the upcoming schedule, see here.
