Although rivals are nipping at Usain Bolt's golden heels and he grumbled last week that his schedule at the Rio Olympics was too hectic for him to run world-record times, the lanky Jamaican sprinter remains unequaled at producing stunning performances on the most momentous of occasions.

Bolt reaffirmed his place in sports history Thursday night at Olympic Stadium by winning the men's 200-meter dash and becoming the only man to win the 100- and 200-meter races in three straight Olympics. His time of 19.78 seconds wasn't the sub-19 time he had been hoping for, but it was enough for him to defeat Andre De Grasse of Canada (20.02 seconds) and Christophe Lemaitre of France (20.12). LaShawn Merritt of the United States, the bronze medalist in the 400, finished sixth in 20.19 seconds.

It was the second medal in these games for De Grasse. He won bronze in the 100 and, in the 200 semifinals, cheekily pushed Bolt into running a faster time than Bolt had planned. But Bolt had plenty of energy left Thursday and turned the evening into a historic occasion.

“I'm always happy for the win, but I wanted a faster time,” Bolt, who turns 30 on Sunday, told NBC. “I felt good, but when I came into the straight, my body wouldn't respond to me. So I guess it's just age and all the rounds that's taken toll.”

Loose enough before the race to do a little samba while waiting to be introduced, Bolt ran confidently on the damp track as a light rain fell and never seemed threatened. He's is still pursuing a triple triple of wins in the 100, 200 and 400-meter relay in three straight games. The relay final will take place tonight.

Centrowitz reaches final: Matthew Centrowitz finished third in his semifinal heat Thursday to earn a spot in Saturday night's Olympic 1,500-meter final.

“I'm feeling a little better every round,” he said. “That's how I like to go into these championships.”

Centrowitz, who grew up in Arnold, will face a loaded field Saturday night that includes Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion in the event.

Centrowitz finished fourth in the 1,500-meter final in 2012, just .04 of a second away from a bronze medal. The race left him devastated despite the fact that much of the track world viewed his performance as a major accomplishment.

The 2007 graduate of Broadneck High secured a berth in his second Olympics by running the fastest 1,500 in the history of U.S. Olympic trials.

His father, Matt Centrowitz Sr., also qualified for two Olympics, running the 1,500 in 1976 but staying home in 1980 because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games.

Centrowitz appeared comfortable going in 3 minutes, 39.61 seconds in his semifinal. He ran a few paces off the lead for much of the race, holding second place as the bell rang for the last lap. Kenyan Ronald Kwemoi passed him with a late move and won the heat, but Centrowitz said he was confident he could deal with such a challenge in the final.

—?Childs Walker

Relay relief: The U.S. team made the most of its second chance to qualify for the women's 4x100-meter relay final, recording the fastest time of the day in a solo re-run before the night session began.

The Americans dropped the baton during the morning preliminaries and appeared to be out of contention.

But track officials upheld the U.S. protest because Allyson Felix was jostled as she tried to hand the baton over to English Gardner.

Because relay finals must be limited to eight teams, the Americans were called back to run all by themselves, in the same order and in the same lane.

Their goal was to beat the time of 42.70 seconds run by China. They posted a time of 41.77, almost a second faster than the target and narrowly in front of Jamaica, the fastest of the automatic qualifiers in 41.79.

400 hurdles gold:Dalilah Muhammad of the United States went out hard and held on strong to win the women's 400-meter hurdles gold medal in 53.13 seconds.

European champion Sara Slott Peterson of Denmark took silver in 53.55 on Thursday. American Ashley Spencer storming home to finish third in personal best 53.72.

Eaton wins decathlon: Ashton Eaton has defended his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters — the last event in the two-day competition.

The 28-year-old American finished with 8,893 points to match the Olympic mark set by Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic in 2004.

Shot-put record: Ryan Crouser won the shot put gold medal with an Olympic record 22.52 meters, leading world champion Joe Kovacs in a 1-2 finish for the United States.

Crouser, 23, recorded the three best throws of his career, starting with 22.22 on his second attempt to take an early lead and improving it to 22.26 before his biggest shot of the night on his fifth attempt.

Javelin goes to Croatian: Sara Kolak won the javelin gold medal with 66.18 meters, holding off Sunette Viljoen of South Africa, who took silver with 64.92.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.