Simpson, De Grasse take out 100m gold

Former Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson won the women’s 100 metres final at the Pan American Games on Wednesday, while Andre De Grasse took out the men’s gold medal.

Jamaica’s Simpson (10.95 seconds) edged out Angela Tenorio of Ecuador (10.99secs) in Toronto with Barbara Pierre of United States claiming third with a time of 11.01secs.

It was Simpson’s first major individual triumph since claiming gold in the 200m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The 30-year-old Jamaican sprinter won silver in the 100m at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, while she was also part of her country’s gold-medal winning 4x100m relay team four years earlier in Athens.

In the men’s 100m final, Canada’s De Grasse triumphed after stopping the clock at 10.05secs, with Barbados’ Ramon Gittens (10.07secs) and Antoine Adams of St Kitts and Nevis (10.09secs) completing the podium.

The victory was the 20-year-old Canadian’s first major senior title.

In the women’s football, Brazil and Colombia will compete for the gold medal after winning their respective semi-finals.

Brazil trumped Mexico 4-2 in a game that saw both teams score own goals, while Diana Ospina struck the winner in Colombia’s 1-0 victory against host nation Canada.

Canada’s Hugo Houle won the men’s road cycling individual time trial after claiming the Canadian national title in the same discipline earlier in the year.

Houle, who made his first Grand Tour appearance at the Giro d’Italia in May, won from Mexico’s Ignacio Prado and another Canadian Sean Mackinnon, while in the women’s race, USA’s Kelly Catlin claimed gold ahead of Jasmin Glaesser of Canada and El Salvador’s Evelyn Garcia.

United States remain top of the medal tally with 201 (76 gold, 65 silver and 60 bronze), with Canada (173 – 64, 56, 53) and Brazil (114 – 32, 32, 50) completing the top three.