2. ELAINE THOMPSON
A year ago the name ‘Elaine Thompson’ didn’t ring a bell, but all of that has changed now, going by the way the Jamaican sprinter launched herself into global reckoning within a short space of time, starting with her performance at the U-Tech Classic where she ran a scorching WL of 10.92s, breaking 11s for the first time in her career.
She extended her dominance to the Jamaican Invitational where she upset a star studded field that had the likes of Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare and Allyson Felix in tow. She clocked an impressive PB of 10.84s at the ‘B’ Race of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, and also competed in a few Diamond League (DL) races. Her most outstanding performance in the DL was running a Meeting Record (MR) of 22.10s at the London Grand Prix, beating the American pair of Candyce McGrone and Tori Bowie.
Thompson who is a training partner to seven-time World Champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, also won the 200m in the Jamaican Trials but didn’t run the 100m despite the impressive times churned out this year. Rather her coach preferred that she compete solely in the 200m at the World Championships while Fraser-Pryce focused on the 100m. The decision certainly paid off! Thompson easily won her heat and semis respectively, posting 22.78s and 22.13s.
The women’s 200m final turned out to be an explosive event as Thompson and European champion Dafne Schippers went head-to-head. The duel did not disappoint as both sprinters raced into the history books, with Schippers taking the victory with a Championship Record (CR) of 21.63s, while Thompson followed in 21.66s, taking her to 5th position on the all-time list, while Schippers occupied the 3rd spot. She also won GOLD with the Jamaican 4x100m team.
