Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m to claim his second Rio 2016 gold, his eighth at an Olympics, and keep alive his hopes of an unprecedented ‘treble treble’.

The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to come home ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre.  Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, but was denied his first Olympic medal in a photo finish.

Bolt, 29, has already won the 100m in Rio and will run in the 4x100m relay final on Friday

Bolt is aiming to match his achievement of claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012. The Jamaican, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight of the Olympic finals in which he has appeared.

Bolt believed he could break his world record of 19.19 and even go under 19 seconds in Rio’s Olympic Stadium.

So the slow time – by his standards at least – left the Jamaican gesticulating angrily as he crossed the line more than two tenths of a second ahead of De Grasse.

But Bolt quickly broke into a beaming smile, celebrating with a trademark ‘Lightning Bolt’ as thousands of fans chanted his name.

About Usain Bolt

Usain Saint Leo Bolt, is a Jamaican sprinter. Regarded as the fastest human being ever timed, he is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time became mandatory. He also holds the world record in the 4 × 100 metres relay. He is the reigning World and Olympic champion in these three events.

Bolt gained worldwide popularity for his double sprint victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in world record times. He later became the first man at the Olympic Games to win six gold medals for sprinting. He was the first to win consecutive Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles (2008 and 2012). At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he became the first track athlete in Olympic history to win three gold medals in one discipline, with his win in the 100 m sprint. He also won the gold medal in the men’s 200 m, his third gold in the event at the Olympic Games.

His achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname “Lightning Bolt”, and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (three times). He is the highest paid athlete ever in track and field. Bolt has stated that he intends to retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships.