Reporting from Tokyo
TOKYO — Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah retained her Olympic women’s 100m gold, clocking an Olympic record 10.61 seconds at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on Saturday (31 July).
The 29-year-old eclipsed Florence Griffith-Joyner’s previous Olympic record of 10.62sec, set at the 1988 Seoul Games.
She also denied compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.74sec) in the 34-year-old’s bid to become the first sprinter to win three women’s 100m golds, as well as becoming the oldest sprinter to win gold.
Shericka Jackson made a sweep for Jamaican on the podium, clocking 10.76sec for bronze.
Earlier in the evening, Fraser-Pryce had qualified for the final with the fastest time of 10.73sec run in her semi-final, with Thompson-Herah second-fastest in 10.76sec.
But there was an upset result for Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, the reigning 200m world champion and 100m world silver medallist, who could not qualify for the final after placing only third in her race with 11.05sec.
Asher-Smith, 25, is the fastest British woman in history and arrived in Tokyo having been unbeaten in her races this season. However a recent hamstring injury had caused doubts on her fitness ahead of the Olympics, and she has also pulled out of the women’s 200m event.
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