Usain Bolt Could Only Laugh As Andre De Grasse Tried To Pass Him

And the Canadian couldn't help but laugh, too.
Jamaica's Usain Bolt jokes with Canada's Andre De Grasse after they crossed the finish line in the Men's 200m Semifinal in Rio de Janeiro on August 17, 2016.
Jamaica's Usain Bolt jokes with Canada's Andre De Grasse after they crossed the finish line in the Men's 200m Semifinal in Rio de Janeiro on August 17, 2016.
Credit: Olivier Morin/Getty Images

It was only a semi-final for the men’s 200-meter dash, but Canada’s Andre De Grasse tried to do something many mere mortals wouldn’t even dream of: He tried to pass Usain Bolt.

While the sprinter ultimately snagged second place with a career best of 19.80 seconds to advance to the final on Friday, the move didn’t go unnoticed by the Jamaican legend, whose face spread into a wide grin and prompted a friendly finger wag as he crossed the finish line with the fastest time of the night, a zippy 19.78.

Bolt holds the current world record in the event ― a 19.19 set in 2009 ― and he won the gold medal during the last Olympiad in London. The 29-year-old also snagged his 7th career Olympic gold in the men’s 100-meter earlier this week, becoming the first athlete ever to win the event at three consecutive games. De Grasse won the bronze in that same race.

Now that Bolt has a competitor just a few hundredths of a second on his heels, who knows what records will fall on Friday. But the photos on Wednesday sure were good.

Credit: Pedro Ugarte/Getty Images
Credit: Lucas Oleniuk/Getty Images
Credit: Adrian Dennis/Getty Images
Credit: Adrian Dennis/Getty Images
Credit: Jewel Samad/Getty Images
JEWEL SAMAD via Getty Images

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said Usain Bolt won a gold medal during the last Olympiad in Beijing. It was actually in London.

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