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Tokyo 2020: Elaine Thompson-Herah completes sprint 'double-double'

Thompson-Herah who led a Jamaica 1-2-3 to successfully defend her 100M title added the 200M crown with a personal best of 21.53 while Namibia's Christine Mboba got the silver (21.81) and USA's Gabrielle Thomas got bronze

Elaine Thompson-Herah completes double

Bengaluru, August 3: Elaine Thompson-Herah stamped her authority as the queen of the track at Tokyo 2020 as the Jamaican completed an unprecedented sprint double for the second time in succession in Olympics history.

Thompson-Herah, the Rio 2016 Olympics 100M and 200M gold medallist who had led a Jamaica 1-2-3 to successfully defend her 100M title at Tokyo 2020 on Saturday (July 31), added the 200M gold to her kitty at the Japanese National Olympic Stadium.

Indeed, the only other runner to have accomplished the same feat is the legendary Usain Bolt, who did it on three straight occasions.

It was her record fourth individual gold as the Jamaican romped home with her personal best time of 21.53sec.

Namibia's Christine Mboba won the silver (21.81) while the USA's Gabrielle Thomas settled for bronze (21.87).

Thompson-Herah's compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce had to be contend with a fourth-place finish.

The double-defending champion, continued from where she had left off in the semifinals, where she had finished first.

The 29-year-old was quick to get off the blocks in the final with rivals struggling to match her pace and built a lead off the bend which she never relinquished.

It looked as if Gabrielle and Fraser-Pryce would end up winning silver and bronze, but the duo were passed in a thrilling finish over the final 20M by the Namibian teenager Mboma who grabbed the second place..

The Jamaican has now become the second-fastest woman in history at both the 100M and 200M.

Thompson-Herah's Olympic record winning time in 100M had matched the second-fastest time in history of 10.61sec set by the late Florence Griffith-Joyner of America.

In 200M also, her time is the second fastest after Griffith-Joyner's world record of 21.34sec set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

As well as becoming the first woman to claim a 100M-200M double-double, Thompson-Herah is the only female track and field athlete to win four individual Olympic gold medals.

Tokyo 2020: Thompson-Herah spoils Fraser-Pryce's partyTokyo 2020: Thompson-Herah spoils Fraser-Pryce's party

It was a good comeback by Thompson-Herah, who had an eminently forgettable outing at the 2019 Doha Athletics World Championships at the Khalifa International Stadium, where she failed to win a medal in 100M and was forced to pull out just prior to the semifinals with a nagging Achilles injury that had been plagueing her since 2018.

Incidentally it was her compatriot and long-time rival Fraser-Pryce who did the sprint double at the Qatari capital two years ago and now it is time for role-reversals.

Story first published: Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 21:26 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 3, 2021