Andre De Grasse Still Chasing, but Shows He's Not Scared to Push Usain Bolt

Published by Yahoo Sports on August 18, 2016

Andre De Grasse has run five races here at his first Olympics. He’s come first in two of them. He’s finished behind Usain Bolt in the other three.

That was again the case in Wednesday night’s 200-metre semifinals, like it was in the 100-metre final and semifinal, and in this case behind meant right behind. De Grasse’s time of 19.80 seconds was enough to qualify for Thursday night’s final but not enough to beat Bolt, who ran a 19.78, and was a bit surprised that De Grasse was there next to him at the end.

That’s not something Bolt is used to. When he began coasting down the stretch, feeling he had the race won like so many times before, De Grasse kept going strong and made up the ground between them. They were well ahead of the field and crossed the finish line with huge, knowing grins splashed across their faces. Bolt turned to De Grasse and waved his finger, as if to say "not yet."