Reigning Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce blew away the rest of the field at the Bird’s Nest Stadium to claim her third 100m world title with an impressive time of 10.76s. She set the pace for European double champion, Dafne Schippers and USA’s Tori Bowie to claim Silver and Bronze respectively. The feat is a perfect climax for the ‘Pocket Rocket’ who maintained her winning streak in Beijing, having struck her first GOLD there at the 2008 Olympics.
The Jamaican maintained her cool and calm demeanor in the build up to the race, pulling off an incredible win that cemented her status as the world’s best in the event, despite not breaking the Championship Record (CR) of 10.70s set by Marion Jones in 1999. Fraser-Pryce’s victory comes against the backdrop of Usain Bolt’s triumph in the men’s 100m only a day ago, and will be a huge morale booster for the Jamaican team, thus affirming their reputation as the world’s best in the sprints.
The women’s lineup was a world class one by all standards, having Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Schippers, Bowie, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Natasha Morrison and Michelle-Lee Ahye in tow. It was expected to be a close and explosive race as Fraser-Pryce had clocked 10.82s to win the semis ahead of Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, who also executed a smooth race to return a time of 10.89s.
Schippers began her competition on a good note, winning her heat with 11.01s before firing a note of warning in Heat 3 of the semis, clocking a Personal Best (PB) and National Record (NR) of 10.83s. The Dutch sprinter then lowered her NR to 10.81s to win Silver in the final, an astonishing performance for the 23-year old who only last year converted to the sprints from the Hepthatlon. It is also the second World Championships medal for Schippers who claimed Bronze in Moscow two years ago.
This is only the beginning for the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup double medallist (100m Bronze, 200m GOLD), who is also regarded as a medal contender in the 200m. USA’s Tori Bowie’s Bronze medal did not come on a platter of gold as the Long Jumper-turned- sprinter is gradually positioning herself as one of the best performers in the world. The 24-year old turned to the sprints last year and pulled off an outstanding performance, ending the year as the world’s No. 1 with a Personal Best (PB) of 10.80s.
Bowie came to the championships as the World No. 5 with a Season’s Best (SB) of 10.81s. She won her heat with the joint fastest time of 10.88s (along with Fraser-Pryce), and then went on dominate Heat 2 in the semis with a time of 10.87s. She further lowered her time to 10.86s to claim the Bronze. Getting to the podium in her first World Championships outing is a remarkable achievement for the former Long Jumper who will be looking forward to winning a medal in the 200m as well.
2007 champion, Campbell-Brown finished 4th in 10.91s as Trinidad and Tobago’s pair of Ahye (10.98s) and Baptiste (11.01s) placed 5th and 6th respectively. The third Jamaican representative on the field, Morrison finished 7th in 11.02s. Nigeria’s hopes of producing its first World Champion suffered a setback as Okagbare-Ighoteguonor placed 8th in the final, returning a time of 11.02s. Ironically, the African Record holder competed in Lane 8 after finishing 2nd in the semis.
Unlike Moscow 2013 where Africa had two representatives in Murielle Ahouré and the Nigerian, Beijing was an entirely different ballgame as the African Record holder became the sole burden bearer of the continent’s hopes after the Ivoirian was eliminated in the semis, having finished 4th in 10.98s.
The chase for a 100m World Championship medal continues for the double Commonwealth champion, who will no doubt be disappointed by the turn of events in Beijing after recording a slow start. However, she must pick herself up quickly for the 200m, which takes off on Wednesday. The six-time Nigerian champion won Bronze in the 200m in Moscow two years ago behind Fraser-Pryce and Ahouré, in addition to the Silver medal she took in the Long Jump.
Please can someone just explain to me how okagbare who placed second in the semis with a the 4th best qualifying time, ended up in lane 9???
I used to think timing and semi-final positions determines the lanes. I was so furious when I saw the lane assigmements … Then they had some fastest loser qualifiers in better lanes.
I just need to be told that my perception of how it is done is wrong.