Andre De Grasse looked over and smiled at Usain Bolt as the pair flew across the finish line of the 200-metre sprint semi-final.
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The two were racing in the semi-final round yesterday when Bolt appeared to notice that De Grasse, who took bronze in the 100, was gaining on him and threatening to pass him.
“He asked me why we were running so fast”, De Grasse said.
“He was supposed to slow down”, Bolt told reporters.
“I was thinking should I try to pass him or should I save it for tomorrow”, De Grasse said.
“But I definitely wanted to make him work a little bit and push. we were kind of joking around saying, ‘Why are we running this fast?'”
It’s likely that the 21-year-old will claim silver, with him having to run a personal best just to keep up with Bolt in the semis as he once again strolled to victory. “That ability to maintain his speed from 50 through to 100 metres is going to become the real determining factor in whether or not he’s able to move up onto silver or gold position in four years from now”.
Bolt and de Grasse cross the line in first and second place. The seven-time Olympic gold-medal victor has no problems talking to the press, who hang on his every word.
The Jamaican then went to the Berlin World Championships in 2009 where he continued to dominate, this time smashing both his 100m record (9.58s) and his 200m record (19.19s) in the process. “I can’t run properly and I had a tight turn in lane three”.
De Grasse and Bolt will be racing against each other in the 200-metre finals on Thursday. In 2008, he beat Michael Johnson’s seemingly unbreakable Olympic record with a time of 19.30 seconds. American LaShawn Merritt will also hope to be in the mix.
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Meanwhile, Olympic 100m and 200m gold medallist Elaine Thompson was also left out for the first round of the women 100m relay. Gemili has run under 20 seconds before, but this final may have come just too soon following his injury last season. “Inevitably he’s going to have to get stronger and more powerful so that he can direct more force into the ground”, Wells said. The emerging star sprinter earned a bronze in the 100m final. The day begins with Jillian Gallays in the 53kg qualification round, Danielle Lappage in the 63kg qualification round at 9 a.m. ET before Erica Wiebe gets going in the 75kg freestyle 1/8 finals at 9:32 a.m. ET.
