2025 is bound to be the year of track and field comebacks! After all, not everyone has had the smoothest runs last season. Many track athletes had kicked off 2024 with their sights set on the Parisian dream, but only ended up finding it turned into a nightmare! But we now have one such fallen phoenix trying to rise back from the ashes.

And oh boy, we’ve seen how unstoppable this Canadian pro is in his prime. Looks like he’s now gearing up to remind the world exactly how he earned those medals. Also, this time, the athlete is under the umbrella of a veteran coach, a Florida Gator. After all, that’s where things had started to go wrong last season- the coaching tent. So who is he?

Andre de Grasse makes an early track and field comeback

Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse is back to turning heads and this time, it’s on the training track in Gainesville, Florida. As seen in an Instagram update from Florida Gators’ head track and field coach Mike Holloway, De Grasse was spotted training on American soil alongside an exciting lineup of athletes—Erriyon Knighton, Joe Fahnbulleh, Pjai Austin, and Robert Gregory. And well, these snapshots, clicked by Michael Holloway, have surely sent track and field fans into a frenzy!

After all, there is plenty to sniff from these photos. Firstly, it looks like De Grasse is gearing up for a big comeback—maybe even with an eye on LA 2028. This is only normal, for he had a tough outing in Paris, where he missed an Olympic final for the first time in his career. That’s when De Grasse had promised his fans that he’d keep competing as long as his sponsors backed him. Turns out, he’s actually going to live up to that now!

It’s also clear that De Grasse has made some major coaching changes. De Grasse appears to have moved on from former coach Rana Reider after he was banned from the Olympic Games and had his credentials revoked since the Canadian Olympic Committee said they had new information regarding the allegations that Reider had committed s–ual misconduct.

Without his long-time coach in Paris, DeGrasse had fizzled out in the Paris individual races. But it looks like he re-evaluated and closed that chapter forever, beginning a new one in Florida. And why not? Mike Holloway is the master behind many Olympians and track medalists. The veteran was also the 2020 Tokyo Olympics U.S. Track & Field Head Coach. Thus, it’s safe to say that De Grasse’s track and field career is in good hands. And here’s what the fans have to say about it.

Track fans can’t stop talking about the new training squad in town

Reacting to the image of all these pro athletes training together, a fan commented, “Pack of killers.” Well, they truly are. If you take a look at their 200m personal bests, you can easily gauge why this group is generating so much traction. Joe Fahnbulleh’s best time is clocked at 19.83, Andre De Grasse at 19.62, Robert Gregory at 19.60, and Erriyon Knighton at a blazing 19.49. We’re talking about differences measured in mere milliseconds! But now that these speedsters are training under the same methods, those times may get even closer.

Well, there’s so much more than just the speed that connects these supersonic athletes. Much like Andre De Grasse, Knighton has gone through a rough patch in 2024 as well. Knighton made headlines last year when the 20-year-old tested positive for a banned substance in March. And ever since, things had been going south for him. Although, he did get cleared for the Paris Olympics but failed to move past Noah Lyles in the 200m finals despite having a quicker reaction time than him.

But now, the visuals of him and Andre De Grasse, as well as others getting back in shape for the season, is giving fans hope that 2025 will be the year of their comebacks. One of them even called them the new “Elite Training Group 🔥.” Well, when Mike Holloway’s leading the way, it has to be an elite training group indeed. Because, apart from the champions clicked above, Holloway’s pupils also include the 110m hurdles Paris champion, Grant Holloway, Anna Hall, Grace Stark, and Parker Valby, until she moved to the New Balance recently.

But when it comes to Andre De Grasse’s fans, they were particularly happy. One of them saw him train in Gainesville and wrote, “Yessssss that’s exactly what he needs. I’m happy for him.” Well, Andre De Grasse did bag a gold in Paris, in the men’s 4x100m relay, but was stripped of both the individual medal chances. After which, he’d said, “I tried to keep my head and stay mentally strong, but of course that’s always a tough one, not having your coach out there with you, who kind of leads you through these Games and been with all year.”

Well, the fact that he did not have his coach around had surely struck him hard. But this problem shall no longer worry De Grasse, now that he’s with Holloway. And track and field fans believe that he’s already started fine-tuning himself for the season. “Hope folks see they are in trainers and no spikes. Early season training,” commented one. Well, Andre de Grasse and others are probably undergoing the endurance and conditioning practice sessions at first.

How do we know all this? Well, Andre De Grasse dropped some hints on his own Instagram. He posted photos of himself in winter gear, running on the field in regular sneakers, with “New Blessings” playing in the background. Though he didn’t explicitly mention training with the Gators, the clues are surely adding up! And De Grasse also shared shots from his gym sessions, showing off some heavy lifting, which clarifies that he’s going hard on conditioning himself.

Overall, fans are surely thrilled at the pack that the Gators have now formed. One of them even made a basketball reference as they shared, “De Grasse training with Knighton and fahnbulleh is giving KG in a Nets jersey” It possibly hints at how Kevin Garrett switched sides from the Celtics to be with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013. Well, De Grasse is undergoing a similar transition now and we hope it redefines his career this year.