Don't be fooled by the Usain Bolt-Andre De Grasse brotherly love

By Scott Russell, CBC Sports

The best thing that could possibly happen to international athletics just did.

Canada's Andre De Grasse showed up to challenge Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt. 

It's not that he can actually beat the undisputed king of track and field — that remains to be seen. But at least De Grasse has got the big man thinking. He's also got him responding to little jabs that are cleverly disguised as acts of camaraderie — some have even called them a form of brotherly love. 

• VIDEO: Bolt holds off De Grasse in 200-metre semis
• COMING UP: Olympic men's 200-metre final at 9:30 p.m. ET

Well maybe so, but it looks a lot like the pesky little kid in the schoolyard who incessantly reminds the top dog not to get too comfortable.

We've all seen it a thousand times before and we've lived it.

Those double-dog dares that come in the form of running races with our older siblings or parents and finally being grown up enough to not only catch them, but surpass them.

It's a child's game that's as old as the hills. It's the next generation coming on strong – the inevitable change that's blowing in the wind.

No punches pulled

So when De Grasse looked over and pushed Bolt hard down the stretch in the 200-metre semifinal on Wednesday night, the elder statesman wagged his finger and flashed a toothy grin. But make no mistake about it: He saw the future flash before his eyes and you can bet that there was a whisper in the ensuing embrace that warned De Grasse to watch his step.

When Bolt went through the mixed zone, he stopped to answer a few questions with Channel Seven Australia and didn't pull any punches.

"That was not cool," he said of De Grasse's little challenge. "You don't need to do that in a semi, but he's just young and he'll learn."

For his part, De Grasse was unrepentant as he spoke with CBC's Scott Oake directly after the race. "I was just trying to push him to reach his potential," or words to that effect.

Since when does Bolt need to be pushed to reach his potential?

A new challenger enters

But that's the beauty of this little scenario that's developing here in Rio. The king does need a little prod every now and then.

The Bolt phenomenon was all becoming a little too predictable. He's got a fair amount of skin in the game and wants to win the triple-triple (100 m, 200 m, and the 4x100-m relay gold at three consecutive Olympics) to secure his enduring status as the most glorious sprinter of all time. But it's a lot more compelling if he's got someone to act as his foil.

Enter Andre De Grasse.

Bolt has proved over and over again he can beat American Justin Gatlin any day of the week; he just needs to stare him down and it's done. Gatlin came to the Olympics as the dominant runner in the season leading up to the Games. He just can't, for whatever reason, compete when Bolt's on the same track (and he won't have to on Thursday since he failed to make it past the semis).

But De Grasse is a wild card. A young pup apparently unafraid of anything to the point where he's willing to befriend the giant he's hoping to slay.

Stakes are high

This blossoming relationship between Bolt and De Grasse has injected new life into the circus that high stakes track and field was meant to be.

But at the Olympics, it's best not to take the chummy antics of rivals too seriously. The stakes are far too high, especially in Bolt's case.

You can bet he'll ditch the buddy-buddy thing like a hot potato once the real race is on the line.

As fun as it is to watch, there will be a lot less brotherly love in the final.

For both Bolt and De Grasse, it will be all about getting down to business once the gun goes off.