‘It's a surreal moment’: Kelowna’s Jerome Blake receives upgraded Olympic silver medal at nationals

In a season that has been plagued by injuries, British Columbian Olympic sprinter and Rutland Secondary School alumni Jerome Blake has persevered.

This past weekend, Blake competed in the 2023 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Langley on a track that he saw great success on early in his career.

“For me it was surreal to compete back where it all started for me in high school, it was a special moment, that’s for sure,” Blake told KelownaNow.

With Blake and his family now living in the Lower Mainland, this was a special opportunity for his relatives to watch him race.

“Pretty much my entire family was there in attendance, watching from the crowds. It was amazing,” he added.

Because of the pandemic and Blake racing across the world, it has been some time since his loved ones were able to watch him in person.

“It was amazing to have my mom there, some other friends and family because they've never really seen me run since high school in person,” said Blake.

On top of his family getting to watch him race, they also got to be there during a special medal-upgrade ceremony.

Blake, along with his 4x100m teammates from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, received his upgraded silver medals after Great Britain was disqualified because of a team member testing positive for performance-enhancing substances.

When the team initially won their medals at the Olympics, there were very few people in the stands because of the pandemic, but this time around there was a large audience.

“It's one of those things that you'll remember for a long time… there were more people than there were in Tokyo,” noted Blake.

Coming into the weekend, Blake was focused on his preparation, so much so that when he was getting ready for the 100m final, he didn't even know that Andre De Grasse had not qualified for the final until he was warming up.

It was a few critical mistakes that held Blake off the podium in the 100m race, he says, adding that he got excited and started running too fast and pressing, eventually falling out of balance and never getting his rhythm.

Blake ran to a fourth place finish, with his fellow 4x100m teammates Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney placing first and second respectively.

After a strong qualifying run in the 200m race that saw Blake come in second overall, all that was left for his weekend was the 200m final.

With De Grasse in the 200m finals, the entire 4x100m team was competing against each other.

The team finished in the top four spots and Blake once again took fourth place, but even bigger than the race is the impact these four men are having on the Canadian track and field community.

“A lot of people are saying they've never seen four guys who anyone can win most of the time, any race and nationals,” Blake said.

He pointed out the resemblance of the 4x100m team and the Canadian team from the 90s that put the country in the sprinting spotlight for years, made up of Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert, Donovan Bailey and Robert Esmie.

“With us winning medals and performing at major championships, doing the things that we're doing right now, I think it's bringing the attention back to the sport in the country,” explained Blake.

Next up for the Canadian sprinter is the World Athletics Championships, in Budapest, Hungary, from Aug. 18 to 27, where he and the 4x100m team will look to defend their world championship.