He got it. But his silver-medal finish -.10 ahead of Lemaitre – goes well with the bronze he took in the 100 and may pronounce him as the next great sprinter once Bolt leaves the scene.
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Bolt, 29, has already won the 100m in Rio and will run in the 4x100m relay final on Friday (02:35 BST, Saturday).
De Grasse chased Bolt home for silver in Thursday’s 200 metres final, having taken a bronze in the 100m last weekend. He is eight-for-eight in his quest for a triple-triple at his third Olympics. “The fact I came here and everything worked out is a brilliant feeling”.
The hosts Brazil won their fifth gold medal of the Olympic Games, and the first on the Copacabana, as their men’s team won the beach volleyball tournament.
“What else can I do to prove I am the greatest?”
“I’ve proven to the world that I’m the greatest and that is what I came here for and that’s what I’m doing”.
Asked if he would miss Bolt or be said to see him go, De Grasse said: “A little bit of both”.
“If they pick me for the team, put a baton in my hand and I’ll fly”, Gemili pledged.
The American World Record holder equalled Roman Sebrele’s 2004 Olympic Record with 8,893 points.
The Jamaican seemed disappointed with his time – 19.78 seconds – the same as in his semi.
But Bolt quickly broke into a beaming smile, celebrating with a trademark “Lightning Bolt” as thousands of fans chanted his name.
Two brothers from Britain placed first and second in the triathlon after medaling in the same event in London in 2012.
The jury agreed and scheduled a rerun; the same four women – Tianna Bartoletta ran leadoff and Morolake Akinosun ran the anchor leg – qualified for Friday’s final by posting the top time, 41.77 seconds, running alone in Lane 2. “I love competing against him”, the 21-year-old said of Bolt. “I put so much in to that and lost my form at the end. I am absolutely gutted”. Usain Bolt was straight into the lead and never relinquished it.
“You could not separate the guys for bronze”. “I think this is the last one”.
Ahead of the race he got the customary rapturous reception from the healthy crowd inside the Olympic Stadium and looked relaxed as always.
“Usain Bolt was so aggressive out of the blocks”.
While the people who run athletics are dreading the day Usain Bolt leaves their stage, Canadian Andre de Grasse must be licking his lips at the prospect after emerging as the man most likely to fill the void.
“I feel good, I was waiting a very long time I feel good about that, I got to run today and got rid of some rust”.
“My heart goes out to Adam Gemili”.
It was not even the fastest time run this year – that, 19.74, belonged to the former world and Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt, who was never in the race at a distance he has raced at only sparingly and ended up sixth in 20.19.
“The benefit of also having an Olympic gold in the bag is access, so while others simply continued to yell his name, Richards-Ross was allowed to join the throng of journalists and get the picture she seemed to crave almost as badly as Olympic gold”.
“I’m getting older and my body is ageing”.
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When Bolt won by a comfy.24, the world’s initial reaction was that of the usual wonder.
