BEIJING — Down in the bowels of the Bird's Nest Stadium, in the moments before marching out for his heat of the men's 100 metres Saturday night, Canada's young sprint star Andre De Grasse was feeling nervous.
Warming up nearby were Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin, with television cameras trailing. They're giants of the sport, while De Grasse is the unproven rookie.
But the 20-year-old from Markham, Ont., composed himself well to finish second in his heat and move onto Sunday's semifinal — a solid performance in his world championship debut.
"By the time I got into the stadium, and the hype all around it, everyone just cheering, that got my energy up, so I'm feeling pretty good going into the next round," De Grasse said. "It wasn't the best race, tightened up at the end and let Jimmy (Vicaut of France) get away from me, but I'm going to go back, make the adjustments, and be ready for (Sunday)."
He crossed in 9.99 seconds, the fourth time he's broken 10 seconds this season.
Aaron Brown of Toronto was second in his heat in 10.03, and also advanced.
Shawnacy Barber of Toronto easily qualified for the men's pole vault final, while Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Humboldt, Sask., the world No. 1-ranked heptathlete, had a rough Day 1, and goes into Day 2 in fourth place.
Cam Levins of Black Creek, B.C., struggled to a 14th-place finish in the men's 10,000. Moments after Levins was lapped by two of his training partners — Mo Farah and Galen Rupp — a disappointed Levins politely declined speaking to reporters in the mixed zone.
Matthew Hughes of Oshawa, Ont., advanced to the final of the 3,000 metres steeplechase, placing third in his heat in 8:41.52.
In the 100, Gatlin had the fastest qualifying time — a slightly wind-aided 9.83 — setting up what's been hyped as a spectacular dual between the American sprinter who's coming back from his second doping suspension, and Bolt.
Bolt coasted to an easy win in his heat, crossing in 9.96.
De Grasse, who's had a spectacular breakout season, is one of the young stars of this meet, and Saturday night, several international journalists — including a pair from Norway — were clamouring to hear the story about the young Canadian with the basketball background who's only been running for three years.
De Grasse shyly laughed off suggestions he could play spoiler here Sunday, saying "I'm just going to go out there, compete, have some fun, try to run a personal best, make the finals, and make the podium."
Brown, who was injured earlier in the season, looked strong in just his fourth 100 race of the season.
In the mixed zone afterward, Brown laughed with De Grasse about how the thick gold chain he was wearing got caught on his lip when he was coming out of the blocks. It remained there the entire race.
"It was distracting me, in a race where it's milliseconds and stuff, it all makes a difference," Brown said, laughing. "That was my first time (wearing a chain)… because everyone else does it. I don't like it though."
Brown said De Grasse, a double gold medallist at the Pan American Games, has changed Canadian sprinting.
"He's definitely put a fire under everybody's feet. Before in Canadian sprinting we had that OK- just-to-be-here kind of mentality. But he's shown that we can win as a Canadian team, it's pushing us all to be better."
Brown said it's a blessing that De Grasse is so new to the sport. It could allow the young Canadian to fly under the radar and "shock some people."
"He doesn't overthink things, so a big stage like this, he might not feel the pressure, because he doesn't understand it," Brown said. "That's a good thing to have on your side, because when you don't feel the pressure and you're running easy, anything is possible."
Theisen-Eaton appeared to be struggling with pressure in a season that saw her arrive in China with the world's top score this season in the heptathlon.
The 26-year-old, who won silver at the 2011 worlds in Moscow, struggled with high jump especially, and finished the day with 3,865 points. Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill is the leader after four of eight events, with 4,005.
"I have no idea, I have no words. Maybe expecting too much, and going in too tight instead of having fun like I usually do," Theisen-Eaton said.
"I'm disappointed that there's no shot at getting gold. My coaches would say 'Don't say that!' but I'm just being realistic. Right now any medal I'd be happy with, with the atrocious day I had today."
Barber, meanwhile, easily cleared the required 5.70 metres to move on in the pole vault. If the 21-year-old was feeling any pressure of being one of Canada's top hope for a medals, it certainly didn't show.
"That's the kind of pressure I put on myself… that's my main goal, to get on the podium and represent Canada well," he said. "That's been the goal from Day 1, to come out and find myself somewhere on the podium."
In a thrilling 10,000 final that capped Day 1 of competition, Levins struggled from the start, finishing in 28 minutes 16.30 seconds — well off his Canadian record of 27.07 that he set earlier this year.
Farah of Great Britain pulled away from three Kenyans with a spectacular kick to win gold. Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor won silver, while Kenyan teammate Paul Kipngetch Tanui claimed the bronze.
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