Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Andre De Grasse

Andre De Grasse

Sprinter

47 Almost 20 years after ­Donovan Bailey fever gripped the nation, Canada finally has another sprinter worth getting excited about. Scarborough-born Andre De Grasse made his presence known with two gold medal finishes at the Pan Am Games. The following month, he went on to a pair of bronze medals at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, where he finished just 0.13 seconds behind the world’s fastest human, Usain Bolt, in the 100 metres. De Grasse could have chosen to cash in, lining up sponsorship deals with sports drink makers and athletic wear companies. Instead, he decided to return to his life as a student athlete at the University of Southern California—a smart long-term call, because it will give him time to develop his running skills away from the deafening hype that might otherwise envelop him.

Up Next:

The Rio Olympics in 2016. By the time he gets there, he should be in the best shape of his life.

More of Toronto's Most Influential People

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Drake

Today, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Drake is Toronto

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, John Tory

John Tory has taken the first steps toward defining his legacy

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, Kathleen Wynne

It's been a rocky year for the premier

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, George Cope

Cope is the head of Canada’s largest telecommunications company

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #5, Gerald Butts

Butts is now the most powerful non-elected person on Parliament Hill

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Guy Laurence

Laurence is now entering year three of his attempted turnaround of Rogers

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, Ian Black

Black is the regional head of a global corporate scofflaw

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Jennifer Keesmaat

Keesmaat is Toronto's defiant, outspoken chief planner

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #9, Larry Tanenbaum

Tanenbaum is the city’s most powerful sports figure

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Naomi Klein

Klein is one of the world's leading critics of capitalism

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Katie Telford

Telford led Justin Trudeau's ground campaign

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #12, José Bautista

Bautista's three-run homer elevated him from star slugger to cult hero

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #13, Patrick Brown

Brown is the second most powerful ­person in Queen’s Park

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #14, Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey

Handling and Bailey rep the most important movie marketplace not named Cannes

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Randy Lennox

Lennox has domain over Bell's original and in-house tele­vision productions

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, John Ruffolo

Ruffolo commands one of Bay Street’s largest private venture capital firms

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Nick Kouvalis

Kouvalis is the ultimate guy behind the guy

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd

This was the year The Weeknd achieved monster commercial success

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Brendan Shanahan

­Shanahan is the man responsible for returning the most hallowed franchise in hockey to greatness

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Ted Livingston

Livingston suddenly finds himself in the upper echelons of the mobile start-up world

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Ratna Omidvar

Omidvar is one of the city’s staunchest champions of diversity

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #22, David Thomson

Thomson is the public face, however reluctantly, of his family’s $30.7-billion fortune

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #23, Mark Saunders

Saunders heads up the country’s largest municipal police force

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #24, Galen Weston

Weston has ­redefined grocery shopping for the 21st century

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Charles Khabouth

Khabouth is Toronto’s leading club and restaurant mogul

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Eric Hoskins

Hoskins has his hands full with Ontario's $50-billion health ministry

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, Tim Hockey

Hockey is responsible for the bulk of TD Canada Trust's net income

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Josh Donaldson

Donaldson helped lead the Jays to the post-season for the first time in 22 years

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Jeff Remedios

Remedios deals with Bieber, the Weeknd and Drake

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Tatiana Maslany

Maslany is the most buzzed-about Canadian actor since Gosling

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Zunera Ishaq

Ishaq altered the course of the 2015 federal election

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Margaret Atwood

At age 75, Atwood is more ­relevant than ever

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Anthony Rose

Rose is Toronto’s restaurant oracle

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Marie Henein

Henein runs the hottest criminal defence firm in Toronto

Style

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Tanya Taylor

Taylor’s cheerful prints have appeared on the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Michelle Obama

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Jeff Stober

The king of Queen West has taken his quirky brand of Canadiana on the road

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Kirstine Stewart

Stewart is winning the battle to convince networks that Twitter is a reinforcement to—not a distraction from—their programming

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Chrystia Freeland

Freeland may have the most impressive resumé in Canadian politics

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kevin Donovan

Powerful people start quaking when Kevin Donovan’s name pops up on their call display

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, Saäd Rafi

Rafi turned the city's Pan Am cynicism into pride

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Gary Slaight

The head of the Slaight Family Foundation followed up on a generous 2014

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #42, Kristin Cochrane

Cochrane is easily the most powerful person in the Canadian book publishing industry

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #43, Matt Galloway

Galloway's voice is the first thing 392,000 Torontonians hear every morning

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #44, Katie Taylor

Taylor is Canada's first female bank chair

Real Estate

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #45, Sam Mizrahi

Mizrahi has dominion over what is arguably ­Toronto’s most significant undeveloped piece of land

Real Estate

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Peter Gilgan

The GTA’s residential construction titan is headed downtown

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Mathieu Chantelois

Pride’s fresh-faced franco­phone executive director has the diplomatic skills and savoir-faire for the gig

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Robert Deluce

Deluce closes out the year with no shortage of headaches

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #50, Karen Kain

Kain put the National Ballet back on stable financial footing