RIO DE JANEIRO – Some people believe that Canada's Andre De Grasse and Jamaica's Usain Bolt have a budding bromance. They share smiles on the track and have complimented each other in the media. Aaron Brown, De Grasse's teammate, isn't buying it. 

"It's not a bromance," Brown said while smiling and shaking his head. "No, they're competitors. I mean, they're both with Puma so maybe they have a relationship through that. Andre probably looked up to him and Bolt was probably looking down, kind of a mentor thing and the changing of the guard, but I can guarantee you they're not going to be friends in this race tonight."

On Thursday night, Bolt is the heavy favourite in the 200-metre final. He is the two-time defending gold medalist and the world record holder (19.19) at the distance. 

"It's very hard to beat him in the 200 metres," said veteran sprinter Asafa Powell, Bolt's teammate. "It was a lot easier to beat him in the 100 metres than the 200, because the 200 is his favourite event and if you can't beat him in the 100 you're definitely not going to beat him in the 200."

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That seems to be the consensus around the Olympic Stadium. 

"I think Usain Bolt has kept his powder dry and he's going to blow this field away tonight," said Cathal Dennehy, a long-time track follower, who's writing for the IAAF website during the Rio Olympics. "He's going to win very easily and, short of a false start or a torn hamstring, Usain Bolt will not be touched in this race."

But De Grasse is determined to shock the world and showed as much in Wednesday's semifinal when he pushed Bolt hard down the stretch. After the race, Bolt didn't seem all that pleased about it. 
 
"That was really unnecessary," Bolt told reporters. "I don't know what he was trying to do."

Usually, top contenders like to save their energy for the finals if at all possible. But Brown believes, whether it worked or not, it was a great idea to try and get under Bolt's skin.  
"I think so," said Brown, who was eliminated in the 200-metre semifinals. "Andre believes in himself. He's very confident. He and his coach and his staff, they believe they can take down Bolt so for him to do that in the semifinal was putting something in the back of Bolt's mind to say he can't take this so lightly like he might of thought he would before."

But even Brown admits that De Grasse is a long-shot to win the race. 

"He has to do what he did in NCAA last year just a little bit better," Brown said with a chuckle. "A time of 19.5 is probably necessary. I think he might be able to do it. I think he's capable of it, he's run it before slightly wind-aided. I have confidence in him. He's a big performer. He performs on big stages."

De Grasse won the NCAA 200-metre title last year with a wind-assisted time of 19.58 (Wind: +2.4 mps). In the Rio semifinals, he set a Canadian record at 19.80 just behind Bolt's 19.78.

Only two Canadian men have reached the Olympic podium in the 200 metres. Percy Williams won gold in 1928 and Bobby Kerr won gold in 1908. It might not be gold, but De Grasse should add his name to that list Thursday night. 

"You saw what he did last night," said Brown. "I mean, he was jogging at the end of the race so the sky's the limit with him. He's very talented and I look forward to a medal performance from him tonight."

As for Bolt, he doesn't just want to win, he's hoping to break his world record set in 2009. 

"I definitely think I can try for the world record, I definitely feel that," he told reporters after Wednesday's semifinal. "I need to run efficiently and get into the straight and run the perfect race. If I can run a little more efficiently on the turns. I will be hoping for lane six or seven maybe to be able to run as smooth as I can."

Bolt will be in lane six, but Dennehy doesn't think it matters. 

"I don't think he's in the same shape that he was in 2009," Dennehy noted. "He ran 9.58 back then in the 100 metres and he hasn't approached that this year so I don't see where he's going to find the shape to run 19.19. I think the winning time for Bolt will be around 19.40 and then it will be left to Andre De Grasse and LaShawn Merritt, Canada against America in lanes four and five, to scrap for the silver medal."