Tokyo Olympics 2021 day 12: Andre de Grasse claims thrilling 200m final

For five years Andre de Grasse couldn’t shake the Usain Bolt talk. Now he will never have to worry about it again. Here’s why.

He was Usain Bolt's bridesmaid five years ago, now Andre de Grasse has joined the great Jamaican as an Olympic champion.

 

After winning silver in Rio, the Canadian had his moment to shine under the Tokyo lights and he delivered in stunning fashion.

While a lot of the hype around the race had centred around 17-year-old American Erriyon Knighton given he'd broken Bolt's junior records, De Grasse told the world not to forget about him after a career best performance in the semi-final.

And he followed through with the threat, running brilliantly from lane six to win his first major title in a national record 19.62sec.

He was pushed all the way by American Kenneth Bednarek who claimed silver in 19.68sec while reigning world champion Noah Lyles took bronze in 19.74sec.

Knighton missed the start slightly and was really never in the race, finishing fourth.

De Grasse, 26, had come to Tokyo in his best condition for several years which he showed in the 100m final where he finished third behind Italy's Marcell Jacobs.

He ran a personal best 9.89sec to claim back-to-back Olympic bronze medals in the event.

Andre de Grasse hitting the line in the 200m final. Picture: AFP Photos

It has been a rocky road since Rio.

He had been dogged by two hamstring tears which made a mess of his 2017 and 2018 campaigns which saw him withdraw from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

The Covid delay of the Games helped him get his body right and finally get a chance to live up to the tag of Bolt's replacement.

Follow all the day 12 action in our live blog below.

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021 day 12: Andre de Grasse claims thrilling 200m final