3 years ago
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TOKYO — Streaking down the track, with lone six steps to spell until she reached the decorativeness line, Elaine Thompson-Herah stuck retired her near limb and started pointing astatine the clock.
She knew she had the win.
It was lone a substance of what other would travel with it.
With a clip of 10.61 seconds, the latest successful the agelong drawstring of Jamaican velocity stars defended her Olympic rubric successful the 100 meters Saturday. She broke a 33-year-old Olympic grounds held by nary different than Florence Griffith Joyner. And, arsenic a more-than-fitting bonus, she revisited a statement archetypal triggered by the fastest Jamaican of each — Usain Bolt.
Yes, the golden medal and Flo Jo’s venerable grounds were great. But the question could not beryllium avoided: Just arsenic radical wondered what Bolt mightiness person fixed up erstwhile helium hotdogged his mode to the decorativeness enactment successful his archetypal Olympic triumph successful 2008, however overmuch faster mightiness Thompson-Herah person gone had she tally hard for 100 meters, not conscionable 90 oregon 95?
“I deliberation I could person gone faster if I wasn’t pointing and celebrating, really,” she said. “But to amusement you that there’s much successful store. Hopefully, 1 time I tin unleash that time.”
As it was, she finished the nighttime arsenic the second-fastest pistillate successful history. Flo Jo’s satellite grounds of 10.49 is lone people near to beat.
As it was, she bushed a two-time Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and joined bronze medalist Shericka Jackson successful the archetypal Jamaican podium expanse astatine the Olympics since 2008.
“The bequest we person successful Jamaica is incredible,” Fraser-Pryce said.
Yet, with each that swirling around, it felt much than fitting that Thompson-Herah was drafting comparisons to Bolt, who redefined the sprint crippled with his antics, to accidental thing of his speed, and near a spread successful way and tract aft helium near the Olympic country successful 2016 with 9 victories successful 9 sprints.
In the archetypal win, the 6-foot-5 speedster was good wide of the tract successful Beijing erstwhile helium brought his hands retired to his sides and started his solemnisation earlier helium reached the decorativeness line. His time, 9.69, was a satellite record. But the satellite went brainsick — adjacent then-IOC President Jacques Rogge leveled a crisp critique of the determination — wondering what mightiness person been had Bolt busted it done the line.
He answered the question a twelvemonth aboriginal erstwhile helium lowered the people to 9.58 astatine the satellite championships successful Berlin.
Thompson-Herah thinks she’ll get different accidental similar that, too.
“I person much years,” she said. “I’m conscionable 29. I’m not 30. I’m not 40. I’m inactive working.”
On a sultry nighttime successful the near-empty Olympic Stadium successful Tokyo, Thompson-Herah started pulling distant from her apical rival, Fraser-Pryce, early. By the 50-meter mark, it was a runaway. She won by .13 seconds, oregon astir 3 assemblage lengths, a veritable rout successful a 100-meter final.
Jackson, a bronze medalist 5 years agone astatine 400 meters who moved to the shorter sprints for the Tokyo Olympics, took bronze successful this one, arsenic well, successful 10.76.
Flo Jo’s aged people of 10.62 came astatine the 1988 Seoul Olympics, not agelong aft she ran the 10.49 connected a breezy time successful Indianapolis. For decades, statement has raged astir whether the marks are legit, and the longer they held up, the much astonishing the records seem.
No Olympic champion had adjacent breached 10.7 since Flo Jo backmost successful the day. Thompson-Herah insisted she wasn’t definite she would either arsenic she approached the finish. But, she said, “I knew that I won.”
“The pointing, I don’t cognize what it means. To amusement that I was clear,” she said.
Thompson-Herah is present firmly entrenched successful a agelong database of Jamaican women way stars — a drawstring immoderate accidental is adjacent much awesome than the men’s. The Caribbean land was putting greats specified arsenic Merlene Ottey and Veronica Campbell-Brown retired determination agelong earlier Fraser-Pryce moved to halfway signifier arsenic a brace-faced 21-year-old successful Beijing.
She finished connected apical successful that 2008 race, and this second-place decorativeness completed her Olympic acceptable successful the 100, wherever she present has 2 golds (′08, ′12), this metallic and a bronze from 2016.
But she looked a spot stunned to decorativeness that acold down her main rival connected a way that has produced accelerated times implicit the archetypal 2 days of competition.
After seeing Thompson-Herah hotdog it to the finish, the pistillate they telephone “Mommy Rocket” — she has a 3-year-old son, Zyon — stared, stone-faced, astatine the scoreboard and stood connected the way with her hands connected her hips.
She had been the favourite coming in, mostly connected the spot of a 10.63 she ran successful June that showed she remained successful apical signifier immoderate 2 years aft winning the satellite title rubric successful 2019.
“Of people you’re disappointed,” said Fraser-Pryce, whose rubric successful Doha was a comeback story, lone 2 years removed from her pregnancy. “The lone purpose an jock lines up for is to win.”
Not adjacent the defending Olympic champion saw this coming. While Fraser-Pryce was astatine highest form, Thompson-Herah was thing less, battling an Achilles wounded that slowed her each the mode done Jamaica’s nationalist championships past month.
“Two months ago, astir apt a period and a half, I didn’t deliberation I’d beryllium present today,” Thompson-Herah said. “I held my composure. I believed successful myself.”
Even without American Sha’Carri Richardson, astatine location due to the fact that of a doping affirmative for smoking marijuana astatine the U.S. Olympic trials, the women’s 100 shaped up arsenic perchance the champion contention of the Olympics, up of the Bolt-less men’s sprint.
As if to accentuate that point, the favourite successful the men’s race, American sprinter Trayvon Bromell, finished 4th successful his qualifying vigor earlier successful the evening and had to hold astir an hr to spot if he’d get 1 of 3 wild-card spots into Sunday’s semifinal round.
He did, and said, “Honestly, I person nary words for it,” erstwhile asked to explicate the lackluster run.
Another astonishment came successful the Olympic debut of the mixed 4×400 relay, wherever Poland won the golden and Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic sprawled implicit the enactment to borderline the Americans for second.
The evening’s different medal lawsuit was men’s discus, wherever Daniel Stahl and Simon Pettersson led a 1-2 Swedish finish. The Swedes draped flags implicit their shoulders and jogged connected the writer down the backstretch during a solemnisation successful beforehand of the bare stands.
Not agelong after, the existent moving began, and Thompson-Herah recovered herself successful a spot she was acquainted with — archetypal astatine the Olympics — but with a clip nary pistillate had ever seen connected this stage: 10.61.
Next is the 200, wherever Thompson-Herah is besides the defending champion. It’s not hard to ideate her walking retired of the Olympics the aforesaid mode Bolt ever did — with 3 golden medals, a fewer unanswered questions and leaving way fans wanting more.
English (US) ·