The Canadian Olympic 4x100m relay squad comprised of Kelowna's Jerome Blake, Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney have run away with The Canadian Press Team of the Year award for 2024.

Blake, who ran the second leg of the said that when the team of four found out they had been named Team of the Year, their group chat exploded with excitement. The last time a gold medal was won by the

"We just started laughing," said Blake, still in disbelief with what he and his team have achieved in 2024. 

He spoke with Black Press in a video interview on New Years Eve from Jacksonville, Florida, where he is training over the winter. 

He said the gold medal performance at the 2024 Olympics was easily the highlight of the year.

"Just winning with my boys, I think that's that's it. Just achieving something so significant with them, it's hard to top that."

Blake said a common goal, excellent mentors and belief in greatness brought the team to victory, despite their individual challenges. 

The golden year was not entirely comprised of laughs, sunny training and fun with his teammates. Blake fractured a bone in his foot early in the season and with his eyes set on the Olympic podium, could not take time off to heal. 

"There was a lot of pain, but I still had to go out there and run," said Blake, remembering all the training, the qualifying and preparatory races and eventually the Olympic Games, all of which he had to complete with a broken sesamoid bone.

Through the pain, uncertainty and hard work, Blake kept a smile on his face and stayed focused on his goal, his team and his supporters.

"I just take it all with gratitude," said Blake.

After winning the gold medal Blake, focused on healing it and is now back to training for big goals in the 2025 season.

"My mom taught me to aim for the moon," he said. "If you land in the clouds, you're still pretty high."

In 2025, Blake's version of the moon is the Canadian Men's 100m record, currently held by Donovan Bailey who ran 9.84s in 1996. 

He also hopes to represent the country at the world championships. 

Off the track, Blake wants to focus on giving back to the track and field community,

"I want to pay it forward."

Blake said that now that he has winning gold at the Olympics, his job is to come back to his roots to help the next generation of athletes.

In collaboration with his coach from the Okanagan Athletics Club, Blake has founded a charity called On Your Mark. While the charity is not yet public, it will aim to remove barriers to youth participation in sport. He also plans to expand his role as a mentor with the club. 

Blake is also chipping away at a lofty goal of establishing a High Performance athletics centre in Kelowna. He said a High Performance facility would not only attract athletes, it would also keep home-grown talent from moving away and would create a community of excellence and support.