Elaine Thompson-Herah sets Olympic record as Jamaica sweeps women’s 100m
Jamaica #Jamaica
TOKYO — The women’s Olympic 100 meter gold medal is staying in Jamaica — all of the medals are, in fact.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson finished 1-2-3 in a clean sweep for the island nation.
Thompson-Herah pulled away from her teammates late in the final to finish in an Olympic-record 10.61 seconds — the second-fastest time ever in the event. Fraser-Pryce finished in second in 10.74 seconds and Jackson rounded out the trio in 10.76 seconds to nab the bronze medal.
For Thompson-Herah, it was a second straight Olympic gold medal after also winning it at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. Fraser-Pryce had won 100 meter Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012.
Shericka Jackson’s inclusion in the final field gave Jamaica a chance for the clean sweep, and all three sprinters delivered.
Thompson-Herah and Fraser-Pryce were stellar in the early rounds, with such great starts and ahead by so much in their first two races that they were both able to throttle down and breeze over the finish line. Not going full-out meant they reserved at least some energy heading into the final, key since the semifinals and medal race were held about two hours and 20 minutes after Fraser-Pryce crossed the line in the third and final semifinal.
The only American in the final was Teahna Daniels; Daniels finished third in her semifinal but her lifetime-best 10.98 seconds was the fastest non-automatic qualifier (the top two finishers in each of the three races automatically earned berths, then the two fastest finishers after that) and good enough to get her into the medal round.
The most surprising result from the semis was British racer Dina Asher-Smith. The silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships was third in her heat but her time of 11.05 seconds was not fast enough to advance. Asher-Smith is the reigning 200m world champion, so she will get a chance to redeem herself starting Monday.
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