Usain Bolt won the Men’s 200m to claim his second gold medal at Rio 2016, his eighth at an Olympics, and keep alive his hopes of a ‘treble treble’. The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to come home ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre.
Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, but was denied his first Olympic medal in a photo finish. Bolt, 29, has already won the 100m in Rio and will join his compatriots for the 4x100m relay final on Saturday.
He also claimed gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Bolt, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight of the Olympic finals in which he has appeared.
“The fact I came here and executed what I wanted to is a brilliant feeling,” he told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t happy with the time when I crossed the line. But I’m excited I got the gold medal – that’s the key thing.”
Bolt believed he could break his world record of 19.19 and even go under 19 seconds in Rio’s Olympic Stadium. So the slow time – by his standards at least – left the Jamaican gesticulating angrily as he crossed the line over two tenths of a second ahead of De Grasse.
But Bolt quickly broke into a beaming smile, celebrating with a trademark ‘Lightning Bolt’ as thousands of fans chanted his name.
Analysis
Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic gold medallist: “I expected a little faster but the race is what it is. Usain Bolt was straight into the lead and never relinquished it. This was a quality race.
“You could not separate the guys for bronze. I don’t think Adam Gemili could have done more to get that bronze. If you look at his race and his position, he finished ahead of guys like LaShawn Merritt.”
Colin Jackson, two-time world 110m hurdles champion: “Usain Bolt was so aggressive out of the blocks. Andre de Grasse said he wanted to go with Usain and that is what he has done. If I am honest, many of the athletes will be disappointed with their times.
“My heart goes out to Adam Gemili. To be fourth with the exact same time as third place, Adam will be devastated no doubt but he is still fourth in the world, he has to remember that and he has a bright, bright future ahead of him.” (BBC Sport)
