One step at a time, De Grasse - Bolt

Usain Bolt has told Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse to rethink any expectations he has of beating him any time soon.

De Grasse has been mentioned in recent times as one of the upcoming sprinters to lead the sport forward when the world's fastest man retires later this year, and he further fuelled that discussion earlier this week when he said he intends to beat Bolt in both the 100 and 200m sprints before Bolt retires.

But Bolt said that De Grasse should be more realistic about his expectations as he is still young in the sport.

"Over the years, I've always tried to be diplomatic about how I answer a lot of questions, but what bothers me the most is when an athlete is coming up through the ranks and they get to a certain level, they always want to beat me. I don't know why," Bolt said.

'TAKE YOUR TIME'

"I always tell my younger athletes at Racers Track Club, 'Listen, when you're climbing a ladder, you have to take your time and work your way up to the top. So all I have to say to De Grasse is take your time and work your way up to the top. That's all I have to say about that."

De Grasse had already tried his hand at beating Bolt twice at the Rio Olympics last summer, but had to settle for third in the 100m and second in the 200m. It is expected that he will try again in August, provided that he qualifies for the IAAF World Championships in London that month.

Despite the words between the two, their rivalry is not considered by many to be as fierce as the one that existed for many years between Bolt and American Justin Gatlin. Bolt and De Grasse were famously captured in one of the more memorable images from the Games, where they were photographed laughing with each other as they crossed the line in the 200m semi final, leading to many memes on social media about the moment.