De Grasse produced a blistering run as he set a Canadian record in the process. US duo - Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles - bagged silver and bronze.
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Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse won the men’s 200 metres gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday with an impressive time of 19.62 seconds, which is a national record. De Grasse held a slender lead coming out of the bend but had Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles for company. However, the Canadian held on to cross the line in a time of 19.62 seconds. Bednarek followed in second with a personal best of 19.68, with Lyles bagging bronze in 19.74. De Grasse, who claimed the 100m bronze and 200m silver at the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Championships, came into the turn third but impressively went past his rivals in the last 40 metres to secure victory.
Andre De Grasse also became the first Canadian since Percy Williams in 1928 to win the men’s 200m gold. The Canadian’s win follows his bronze in Sunday night’s 100m final. Just three nights ago, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs became the surprise heir to Usain Bolt’s vacant 100m crown. Now, De Grasse has secured the title in the 200m. Five years ago, he was competing with the legendary Usain Bolt in the 200m final in Rio 2016, but like so many before, he had to settle for a respectable second place.
Andre De Grasse is the new men’s 200m champion!
After coming second in Rio 2016, the man from #CAN wins #Gold in Tokyo!@WorldAthletics | #StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | #Athletics pic.twitter.com/vhNVBWsNXl
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 4, 2021
Over the last few years, De Grasse has been one of the best sprinters in the world. He arrived in Tokyo with three Olympic medals and four world championships medals. In Tokyo, he added to his tally by first winning the bronze in the 100m. He then qualified for the final as the fastest man with a national record of 19.73, making him one of the favorites for the 200m crown.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, I’ve been training hard for this moment,” Andre De Grasse was quoted as saying by Olympics.com. “I went back after the 100m (where he took bronze) and I was a little bit disappointed in myself, that I could have done better. I said, ‘I gotta go and get this 200, I gotta go and get it’.
“I knew the Americans were going to push me, and they were going to take me to a personal best. It’s been five years since I had a personal best, so it was just good to get that finally out the way.”
