RIO DE JANEIRO -- Canada's Andre De Grasse won the bronze medal in the men's 100 metres at the Rio Olympics, giving Canada its first medal in the marquee event since 1996.
De Grasse finished in a personal best time of 9.91 seconds.
Jamaican star Usain Bolt won gold for the third straight Games in 9.81 seconds. American Justin Gatlin took the silver in 9.89.
De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., finished one-hundredth of a second faster than the time he posted to win bronze at the 2015 world championships and equalled earlier Sunday in the 100 semifinals.
He is also the first Canadian male athlete to win a medal in Rio. Canada's first 12 medals were won by women.
De Grasse found his mother in the packed stands after the race, and the two held hands.
As De Grasse walked around the track following the race he found Bolt and the competitors embraced. The two then walked and talked for a while draped in their country's respective flags, Bolt looking like a mentor figure to the young Canadian.
With this possibly being the last Olympics for Bolt, and Gatlin at age 34, the future looks bright for the 21-year-old De Grasse.
"I think so, definitely," Athletics Canada head coach Peter Eriksson said when asked if De Grasse should be the favourite at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "He's now on the stage where he can be the greatest Canadian athlete ever."
