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De Grasse pushed Bolt so hard in the semifinals of the 200 in Rio that Bolt acknowledged it was draining and prevented him from improving his world record a night later.

At the worlds, Bolt is set to appear in two events.

“Usain is planning to run the 100m and 4x100m at the world championships,” Ricky Simms, Bolt’s manager, wrote in an email to The AP on Wednesday.

So what would it take to beat Bolt in the 100 in August?

“No idea. It’s anybody’s game. You can’t name a time,” De Grasse said. “It’s always about weather and conditions and those types of things. But it’s going to obviously take a well-executed race. I have to be at the top of my game and if I can do that I can do something special.”

De Grasse is working on improving his starts, which also happens to be the only area that Bolt struggles in.

“If I can have a great start and try to hold the lead that would be great,” De Grasse said. “My top-end speed is good. It’s all about finding the right factors to go out there and win.”

As a teen, De Grasse ran one of his first races wearing basketball shorts and borrowed shoes. He stood up in the blocks while others crouched. It launched his career and led him to signing a big contract with Puma — the same company that sponsors Bolt.

“I was a basketball guy growing up so most of my guys that I looked up to were in the NBA like Allen Iverson and Vince Carter,” said De Grasse, who was born in Ontario to Caribbean parents. “I never really had any track fanatics growing up that I idolized.”