Tokyo Olympics: Canada's Andre De Grasse wins gold in the men’s 200m running

Andre De Grasse, the Canadian sprinter, has become an Olympics gold medalist by winning the men’s 200m Sprint on August 4, Wednesday in Tokyo. He has set a national record of 19.62 seconds. He became the first man to replace Usain Bolt since he earned the title back in 2004.  This is Andre de Grasse's second medal of this Olympics. He has won a Bronze medal on Sunday’s 100m final, setting a personal best of 9.89 seconds. 

The 26-year-old, De Grasse, became the first Olympic 200m champion after Usain Bolt, who won three consecutive Olympics Gold from the 2008 Beijing Games and remained the fastest man on earth for more than a decade. Andre De Grasse finished as runner-up to the then Champion Usain Bolt at the 2016 Rio Games. At Rio, he impressively won three medals, fetching one silver and two bronze medals. He also scored 100m bronze and 200m silver at the 2019 World Championships and finally achieved an Olympics Gold at the Tokyo Games 2020. After winning the gold on the 13th day of the Olympics, De Grasse expressed how he couldn't have asked for more as an Olympics Gold was the only feat left to achieve by him. 

Andre De Grasse joins the elite list of five-time Olympic medalists

De Grasse, for most of the race, looked like scoring any medal other than gold. However, he managed to pass his American counterparts in the last 40 metres of the race and claimed victory. De Grasse already had many expectations on his shoulders to win a medal after the low number of Canadian medals earned at the games. This Olympic win added him to the elite list of five-time Olympic medalists after participating in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games. Official Twitter handle of the Olympics tweeted: "Welcome to the 200m club, Andre de Grasse. Usain has been waiting for you."He also became the first Candian to win multiple medals in the 100m. Meanwhile, the USA’s Noah Lyles, the reigning World Champion, finished at the 3rd position after being passed by his team-mate Kenny Bednarek who successfully captured the silver medal with a personal best of 19.68. 

Image Source: AP