Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt wins 200m gold, his eighth Olympic gold

The Jamaican, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight of the Olympic finals in which he has appeared.

"The fact I came here and executed what I wanted to is a brilliant feeling," he told BBC Sport.

"I wasn't happy with the time when I crossed the line but I'm excited I got the gold medal - that's the key thing."

Only US sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi have won more Olympic gold medals in athletics.

Lewis won nine golds between 1984 and 1996, while Nurmi also won nine between 1920 and 1928.

"What else can I do to prove I am the greatest? I'm trying to be one of the greatest, to be among Ali and Pele," added Bolt.

"I have made the sport exciting, I have made people want to see the sport. I have put the sport on a different level."

Bolt believed he could break his world record of 19.19 and even go under 19 seconds in Rio's Olympic Stadium.

So the slow time - by his standards at least - left the Jamaican gesticulating angrily as he crossed the line more than two tenths of a second ahead of De Grasse.

But Bolt quickly broke into a beaming smile, celebrating with a trademark 'Lightning Bolt' as thousands of fans chanted his name.

Bolt's major 200m wins
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing	19.30secs - world record
2009 World Championships, Berlin	19.19 - world record
2011 World Championships, Daegu	19.40
2012 Olympic Games, London	19.32 - Olympic record
2013 World Championships, Moscow	19.66
2015 World Championships, Beijing	19.55
2016 Olympic Games, Rio	19.78