Usain Bolt's dream ending at London given a boost after main rival for gold Andre de Grasse pulls out with injury
The Jamaican will bring the curtain down on his career at the London Stadium
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Usain Bolt’s dream of ending his career as 100m World Champion for a fourth time has become closer to a reality after one of his main rivals for the gold medal, Canadian sprinter Andre de Grasse, pulled out.
The World Athletics Championships at the London Stadium, the home of one of Bolt’s finest moments as he won three Olympic golds in 2012, will play host to the Jamaican’s final race with the 4x100m relay taking place after the 100m final this Saturday.
De Grasse is seen as a contender to take over Bolt’s throne following his retirement and was also tipped to be a candidate to spoil the party on Saturday following his 200m silver, 100m bronze and 4x100m bronze at the Rio Olympics last year.
He also ran a wind-assisted 100m in 9.69 seconds in Stockholm in June, which would have been fast enough to beat Bolt in every World Championships, Olympic and Commonwealth Games since his 9.63 in London five years ago.
But he will now miss the chance to test himself against arguably the world’s greatest ever sprinter for the final time, having torn his hamstring in training, which is likely to keep him out of action for around six weeks .
“Earlier this week in practice, I suffered a hamstring tear that has forced me to withdraw from the World Championships,” De Grasse said on his Facebook page.
“Injuries are a part of the sport, and the timing of this one is especially unfortunate.
“While I'm in the best shape of my life and extremely disappointed that I will not have the chance to compete for my country in London, I can't forget or be ungrateful for the successes that I've been blessed with up to this point in my career.
“I'll be back stronger and faster than ever.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments