200 metres, Men

Usain Bolt had won the last three gold medals in this event, and had competed in the Olympic 200 metres since 2004. In his absence the favorite was American Noah Lyles, who had won the 2019 World Championships. His biggest challengers were expected to be Canadian Andre De Grasse, the silver medalist behind Bolt in Rio, another American, Kenny Bednarek, and Liberian Joseph Fahnbulleh, who was raised in the United States, competed for the University of Florida, and had won the NCAA title earlier in the year.

All of the favorites made it through to the final, although the second semi-final was absurdly close, with Canada’s Aaron Brown winning in 19.982, with Fahnbulleh second with the same time, and Lyles third in 19.983, meaning he only advanced as a time qualifier. The first semi-final was won by American teenager Erriyon Knighton, while De Grasse led the third semi-final.

In the final De Grasse got out well and led the field coming off the turn, but he was quickly caught by Lyles and Bednarek took a narrow lead at 150 metres. It was De Grasse, however, who was strongest in the last 50 metres and he finished in a Canadian record of 19.62 for the gold medal. Behind him the Americans went 2-3-4, with Bednarek running 19.68 for the silver medal, and Lyles finishing in 19.74 for bronze, as Knighton finished ahead of Fahnbulleh in fourth place.

For De Grasse this was redemption as he had struggled through multiple injuries and sub-par seasons since his Rio exploits. He had missed the 2017 World Championships with hamstring issues, and then re-injured the muscle in 2018, as the year postponement to 2021 aided his recovery.