While most of the sprinters behind him grimaced, doing everything in their power to keep up with the black-and-yellow blur in front of them, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt smiled as he approached the finish line in another semifinal heat at the Rio Games. This time, he had someone beside him to share in the laughter of what it’s like to be so ridiculously fast.
Bolt edged Canada’s Andre De Grasse by 0.02 seconds to win Wednesday’s second semifinal of the 200 meters. Both men finished comfortably ahead of third-place finisher Adam Gemili of Britain to claim the automatic qualifying spots for Thursday’s final, which allowed them to enjoy a laugh at the line.
Perhaps they were discussing their favorite takes on the meme-worthy photo from their 100-meter semifinal heat, when Bolt had to turn and look back over his shoulder, rather than out of the the corner of his eye, to find his competition. While Bolt slowed down as he approached the line Wednesday, De Grasse appeared to speed up, pushing Bolt harder than he normally would’ve run.
Everyone seems to be enjoying the developing bromance between Bolt and De Grasse, who will square off again in the final.
Brb writing a spec script for the Bolt/De Grasse buddy cop movie.
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) August 18, 2016
How mad would you be if you were the other 6 racers & #Bolt & #DeGrasse were so good they can flirt w/ each other midrace & still beat you ?
— Donnovan Bennett (@donnovanbennett) August 18, 2016
De Grasse and Bolt should travel the world and solve mysteries together.
— Karon Liu (@karonliu) August 18, 2016
I want someone to look at me the way Bolt and De Grasse look at each other. pic.twitter.com/FAEXxKGU8d
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) August 18, 2016
Seriously De Grasse and Bolt should have just held hands crossing the line.
— David Amber (@DavidAmber) August 18, 2016
Bolt & De Grasse chattin' about a post-race pint while the rest of the OLYMPIANS are meters behind running the race of their lives.
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) August 18, 2016
Bolt and de Grasse practically had a conversation over the last 20m.
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) August 18, 2016
While Bolt put on a happy face, he probably enjoyed the view in his 100-meter semifinal heat a little better.
Bolt and deGrasse did some funny stuff in that 200 semi, but truth is deGrasse made Bolt run faster than he normally would
— Tim Layden (@ByTimLayden) August 18, 2016
On Brazilian TV Bolt came off very ticked off ... Was not happy that de Grasse pushed him to run that fast.
— Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) August 18, 2016
"No reason to run that fast," Bolt grumbled on Brazilian TV after telling the reporter to just ask his question.
— Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) August 18, 2016