The Olympics
Paris was a widescreen movie. LA is the chapter I'm chasing.
Round 1, Heat 4, lane 5. 10.17. One hundredth off the semi. How Paris felt, and where LA 2028 fits in.
Paris 2024 · In my own words
The widescreen movie
Paris is hard to put into words. Qualifying for one of the biggest Games in the world and running the headline event, the 100 metres, was one of the best experiences of my life. I ran it through a sports hernia. I would not change a thing.
Walking into the village. Flags hanging off every building. A dining hall with food from every nation. The warm up track. And then the stadium.
The moment I keep coming back to is walking onto the track. The purple surface, the colour, the noise. It felt like a widescreen movie.
Going into the blocks next to Oblique Seville in a stacked heat, with the maple leaf on my chest, taught me how to be prepared on the biggest stage. Everyone who ever knew me, who thought I would make it and who thought I would not, got to see me there.
Round 1, Heat 4, Lane 5
One hundredth from the semifinal
August 3, 2024. Stade de France. Lane 5, wind 0.0. 10.17, reaction 0.143. Seville won the heat in 9.99.
Four rounds in Paris: preliminary, Round 1, semifinal, final. To advance you needed top 3 in your heat or one of three fastest losers. Favour Ashe took the small q in 4th at 10.16. I was 5th at 10.17. One hundredth off the semi.
I did not get out of Round 1. I was right there. That one hundredth is not a regret, it is the marker. It is where LA starts.
I ran my first Olympic 100 through a torn labrum and a sports hernia. I would not change anything about it.
Duan Asemota
LA 2028 · The chapter I'm chasing
Los Angeles is a second swing, not a sequel.
LA is my second Games. I want to walk in as a threat in the 100 metres. I know the time I need to drop, and I know what the work looks like.
Canadian 100m title in 2025 was step one. From here, race healthy, race often, walk into the 2028 Trials ready.
The mixed 4×100m relay is the wildcard. Back to back World Relays medals, silver in 2025 and gold in 2026, Canadian record 40.07. The mixed 4×100m makes its Olympic debut in LA. That is a real medal shot for Canada.
Between the Games · December 2025
Olympic House, Lausanne. Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.
In December I visited Olympic House in Lausanne and met IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the first woman and the first African to hold the office. She handed me my Olympian certificate. I signed the Olympians' wall.
Standing in front of those rings, with my name on that wall, made it real in a different way. Paris was the race. This was the acknowledgement. The next one is LA.
The Why
It was never a five year old's dream. It was hard work.
I am not the kid who told everyone at five he was going to the Olympics. It manifested as life went on. Track in grade 10. Broken ankle in grade 11. Speed Academy at 16. Twelve years later, lane 5 at the Stade de France.
So the why is this. Hard work and dedication, when you have talent and you actually sacrifice for it, takes you a long way. I lived it. Nothing flashy, just the work.
That is what I tell young athletes, kids in classrooms, anyone who thinks the door is closed. The door opens slowly. You just have to keep showing up.
The road from Paris to LA
Qualifying path
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2024
Paris 2024 Olympic Games
100m, Round 1 Heat 4, 10.17, 5th. One hundredth off the semi. Ran it through a torn labrum and a sports hernia. First Olympics in the book.
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2025
Canadian 100m Champion · IOC Headquarters visit
10.12 wind legal at Canadian Championships. National title, first step on the LA road. December, Olympic House in Lausanne, met IOC President Kirsty Coventry, signed the Olympians' wall.
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2026
World Relays gold, Gaborone
Mixed 4×100m Canadian record, 40.07, with Adjibi, Leclair, and LeDuc. Back to back medals for Canada in the mixed event.
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2027
World Championships, Beijing
Last full international stage before LA. The number I am chasing here is sub 10.
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2028
LA 2028 Olympic Games
100 metres. Mixed 4×100m. The second Games. The medal conversation.
Follow the road to LA
Training, race recaps, and behind the scenes on Instagram and TikTok. Booking, partnerships, and press, head to contact.