World Television Day 2024: Five wacky moments in Olympic broadcasting history

Usain Bolt v. Andre De Grasse: Rivals take a moment to appreciate one another at Rio 2016

As illuminated by the women’s beach volleyball final at Paris 2024, tensions can rise quickly in the heat of competition. The testosterone-filled world of sprinting in athletics is no exception.

At the Olympic Games Rio 2016, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt entered the competition as the favourite for the gold medal in the men’s 100m and 200m. He succeeded in defending his 100m crown, but he would need to beat a field overflowing with rising stars, world championship finalists and Olympic medallists to add another 200m medal to his collection.

After running a confident time of 20.28 seconds to advance out of the heats, Bolt would come face-to-face with one of his biggest potential rivals in the semifinals: Canada’s Andre De Grasse.

De Grasse had finished behind Bolt in both the semifinals and final of the men’s 100m and was eager to flip the script on the Jamaican star in the men’s 200m. The pair were drawn in the same semifinal heat and ran an evenly matched race.

As the duo approached the finish line nearly dead-even, they exchanged some friendly looks and even cracked a smile, acknowledging the unique stakes of the situation, before crossing the finish in first and second place to advance to the final.

While Bolt would ultimately get the best of De Grasse in the final, the moment went viral, cementing the legacy of a wholesome and assuming act of sportsmanship.