Usain Bolt's dream ending at London given a boost after main rival for gold Andre de Grasse pulls out with injury

The Jamaican will bring the curtain down on his career at the London Stadium

Usain Bolt’s dream of ending his career as 100m World Champion for a fourth time has become closer to a reality after one of his main rivals for the gold medal, Canadian sprinter Andre de Grasse, pulled out.

The World Athletics Championships at the London Stadium, the home of one of Bolt’s finest moments as he won three Olympic golds in 2012, will play host to the Jamaican’s final race with the 4x100m relay taking place after the 100m final this Saturday.

De Grasse is seen as a contender to take over Bolt’s throne following his retirement and was also tipped to be a candidate to spoil the party on Saturday following his 200m silver, 100m bronze and 4x100m bronze at the Rio Olympics last year.

He also ran a wind-assisted 100m in 9.69 seconds in Stockholm in June, which would have been fast enough to beat Bolt in every World Championships, Olympic and Commonwealth Games since his 9.63 in London five years ago.

But he will now miss the chance to test himself against arguably the world’s greatest ever sprinter for the final time, having torn his hamstring in training, which is likely to keep him out of action for around six weeks .

De Grasse and Bolt have a heated rivalry (Getty)

“Earlier this week in practice, I suffered a hamstring tear that has forced me to withdraw from the World Championships,” De Grasse said on his Facebook page.

“Injuries are a part of the sport, and the timing of this one is especially unfortunate.

“While I'm in the best shape of my life and extremely disappointed that I will not have the chance to compete for my country in London, I can't forget or be ungrateful for the successes that I've been blessed with up to this point in my career.

“I'll be back stronger and faster than ever.”