But not as slick as the 29-year-old Jamaican, who was already the greatest sprinter of all time before this race, but is just a little greater now.
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Jamaica’s Usain Bolt took gold for the third consecutive Olympics in 19.78.
De Grasse could add a third medal in the 4×100 relay final, where Canada is looking for redemption after a lane violation four years ago in London cost them a bronze medal, and left the runners in tears.
Andre de Grasse of Canada, who won bronze behind Bolt in the 100m, finished second in 20.02 seconds to claim his second sprint medal of the Games and establish himself as the heir apparent to the Sprint King. The defending champions and world record holders were initially disqualified following a botched second changeover between Allyson Felix and English Gardner, but it turned out Felix was impeded by the Brazilian team in the lane outside.
“I want to be remembered as one of the greatest. On the straight, my body didn’t respond”, Bolt said of the race. “My race today could have been better”, the Canadian said.
“And he said ‘Oh, I had to put on some pressure'”.
“I am trying to be one of the greatest”, Bolt said.
If the size of the crowd tonight is any measure, people came out to Rio’s Olympic Stadium with the hope of seeing history – or at least, in the way only Bolt seems to always promise, to see something special.
Whatever the case, Bolt’s 19.78 would not have won the 2012 Olympics or 2015 World Championships. The United States has won just three track golds, all in hurdles: Brianna Rollins took the 100-m hurdles title and Kerron Clement won the men’s 400-m event, and on Thursday Dalilah Muhammad raced to women’s 400-m gold (Denmark’s Sara Slott Peterson got silver, American Ashley Spencer took bronze).
Fournel, from Quebec City, and Cochrane, from Halifax, finished eighth and last in the two-man 200-metre kayak final with a time on 33.76 seconds. First, Tianna Bartoletta leaped 7.17 meters to win the women’s long jump, bumping fellow American and reigning champ Brittney Reese to silver.
Almost the entire arena is now standing, as Bolt and the other runners adjust their blocks.
Asked about his future in the 200m at a major championships, Bolt, who has stated his intention to retire after next year’s World Championships in London, said: “I don’t know”. He won that race past year, but in 20.29 seconds, his slowest 200m final time since 2006 and said, “at this pace, my legacy is going to be in trouble”.
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Brazil’s Rosangela Santos prepares to compete in a women’s 4×100-meter relay heat, August 18, 2016. I’m happy that I came out and executed and won.
