De Grasse wins Men's 200m final at Tokyo Games

On Aug 4, 2021

TOKYO, August 4 – Canadian Andre de Grasse battled with a three-man sprint army of Americans but survived to pocket the Men’s 200m Gold Medal in the 2020 Olympic Games worked off under lights at the Olympic Stadium today. Of the eight finalists, he was the quickest off the blocks and never looked back until he sprinted to glory.

With three top USA sprinters in the final – Kenneth Bednarek, Noah Lyles and Erriyon Knighton there was always a possibility of one of them taking the Gold Medal.

But the 26-year-old Canadian who also trains in the US had a superb dash to push the three Americans to the second to fourth places.

In a superb dash which ultimately accounted for the Gold, the Canadian clocked a national record timing of 19.62s but way behind Jamaican Usain Bolts’ world mark of 19.19s in Berlin 2009 World Championships. Bednarek had a personal best 19.68s while Lyles had a season’s best 19.74s to take Silver and Bronze Medals of the 200m final.

Meanwhile, Kenya accounted for the first two podium positions in Men’s 800m. Emmanuel Korir won the Men’s 800m final clocking 1:45.06s. De Grasse wins Men's 200m final at Tokyo Games

The 26-year-old athlete, who is the sixth-fastest 800m runner of all time, stormed to the front to take an impressive Gold ahead of compatriot Ferguson Rotich who had 1:45.23s.

Poland’s Patryk Dobek who finished the race in 1:45.39s took the Bronze. It was a disappointment for Botswana’s Nijel Amos, the fastest man in the world this year over 800m, who finished eighth in 1:46.41s. Indications were always going to be a new Gold Medallist in the 800m, after double Olympic champion in London 2012 and Rio 2016 and world record holder David Rudisha withdrew from contention due to injury in May.

Peruth Chemutai of Uganda bagged the Gold in the 3,000m steeplechase, clocking nine minutes and 01.45s under lights.

Creating history as Uganda’s first ever female Olympic Medallist, Chemutai edged out Courtney Frerichs of USA to the Silver Medal while Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng won the Bronze.

In an Olympic final that featured eight of the top nine performances so far in 2021, the race threw the rule book out the window, when it comes to usually pacing the runner during a 3,000m steeplechase race. Chemutai was in the lead at the 1,000m, but Frerichs made the calculated move to break away early and create a sizable gap between herself and the Ugandan runner. However, Chemutai made her move as the bell rang for the final lap as she chased down Frerichs before crossing the line in a new national record, thus entering herself into the history books.

Uganda has so far produced 10 medallists in the Olympic Games history but all of them have been Men. The nation’s two Olympic Gold Medals before tonight had come from John Akii-Bua at Munich 1972 and marathon runner Stephen Kiprotich at London 2012.