Sprinter Audrey Leduc opens Paris Games with Canadian record in women's 100m

Audrey Leduc left a mark in her Olympic debut.

The 25-year-old sprinter from Gatineau, Que., won her heat and set a Canadian record in the women’s 100 metres Friday at the Paris Games.

She shot out of the blocks for a time of 10.95 seconds — beating her previous Canadian record of 10.96 — to qualify for Saturday’s semifinals with the sixth-fastest sprint at Stade de France.

"I had a feeling I had this in me," she said. "But the goal was to get a feel for the track, to see what it was like. We saw it on the practice track, it's fast. But the crowd, to experience it, to feel it and to do it, to be even more ready for (Saturday)."

Leduc beat Jamaica's Tia Clayton (11.00) and Britain's Imani Lansiquot (11.10) in her heat. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. The final takes place two hours later on Saturday.

Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast posted the best time of 10.87, her best of the season.

"You really feel that it's a fast track," Leduc said. "I wanted to set a personal best, that’s done. Winning my heat is even better."

After the Canadian trials in Montreal at the end of June, Leduc competed in the London Diamond League 4x100 relay, followed by a training camp with the Canadian team in the Barcelona heat.

She believes those two stops helped her refine her preparation Paris — and the big crowds of the Olympics. There should be a full house of 66,500 people at the Stade de France on Saturday.

"In London there were a lot of people too. When I settled on the line, I told myself, ‘Okay, I need to prepare for Paris,’" she said. "Barcelona allowed us to get used to the time difference and the heat, especially."

Leduc is well aware that the semifinal will be tougher than her qualifying heat, but she’s convinced she can perform even better than Friday.

"I’ll have to execute at the right time, that’s the beauty of the Games,” she said. “We’ve worked on starts in recent weeks. I have a good feeling.”