Rio 2016: Usain Bolt and Andre Gasse all smiles as they qualify for 200m final but Justin Gaitlin & Yohan Blake crash out

Word record holder Usain Bolt and Canadian Andre De Gasse both qualified for the men's 200m final on Thursday morning after coming 1st and 2nd respectively but big names Yohan Blake who finished third in his heat and Justin Gatlin crashed out of the 200m men's final.

Bolt was forced to go faster than he normally would in the rounds, puffing out his chest to cross the line in 19.78sec, ahead of the Canadian youngster. He gave him a friendly wag of the finger, too, after Andre Grasse sped up over the final ten metres to record a Canadian national record.

"I definitely think I can try for the world record, I definitely feel that,’ said Bolt, ‘But it's all about executing right, running the corner efficiently, then coming into the straight and just running the perfect race. I don't get over-confident.’

Gatlin missed out after Churandy Martina and Alonso Edward finished ahead of him in their semi-final.

 
Asked if he was shocked at Gatlin’s early exit Bolt said: ‘I wasn't fully surprised. I thought he would have made it. But I could tell in the 100m he was feeling the pain and he was slowing down. It's just the fact you're getting old. To double at a championship where the young guys are stepping up is really hard.’