Jamaica’s sprint queens on Saturday completed a triple 100-msweep in the women’s 100-m finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates as she realizes she was blazing into history in the women’s 100-m Olympics finals on July 31, 2021.Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah blazed into history, becoming the fastest woman alive to claim the gold medal and lead a Jamaican 100-m podium sweep.
Thompson-Herah’swin denied compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce a third Olympic title as the former fastest woman had to settle for silver in a time of 10:74.
Fraser-Pryce had initially clocked the fastest time to reach the women's 100 metres final and was on course to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic athletics event three times.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson claimed the bronze with third in 10:76.
Thompson-Herah’s listering 10.61 seconds time has only ever been bettered by the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, who set a world record of 10.49 in 1988. It was also a national record and her first medal since she won the double in Rio in 2016, after she was fifth in the World Championships final in London in 2017 and fourth in the finals in Doha in 2019.
“I put everything in there I gave it 100 and I would say that I’m ready, super ready, but I had to just hold my composure to come out here take it runs by runs,” she said.“It shows tonight that Elaine is back. She wasn’t gone anywhere.”
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness described the performances of the country’s top female athletes as "scintillating" and "unforgettable." And executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Adam Stewart, offered complimentary luxury vacations as a reward to the three Jamaican athletes."'The World’s Best' deserves “The World’s Best,” complimentary vacations when the Olympics is all over for our girls!#TeamSandals #TeamJamaica 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲," tweeted Stewart shortly after the historic runon Saturday.
