6. ELAINE THOMPSON
The last time a female sprinter ended the season as World Leader in the 100m/200m was in 2013, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was still at the top of her game. However, her compatriot and team mate, Elaine Thompson has now taken over, with the Jamaican topping the standings of both events in 2016 with her times of 10.70s clocked at the Jamaican Trials, and 21.78s, her winning time in the 200m at the Olympics.
Thompson kicked off her season by winning the 60m Bronze medal at the IAAF World Indoors in Portland. The Beijing 2015 Silver medallist then gave a glimpse of her blazing form at the Jamaican Trials where she blew away the rest of the field in 10.70s. The world was waiting to see if Thompson had what it took to deny Fraser-Pryce a third consecutive title.
For an athlete making her debut at the Olympic Games, Thompson certainly did very well for herself. The 24-year old demonstrated that she had indeed come of age and could comfortably hold her own in the 100m/200m. Unlike last year when she only competed in the 200m and 4x100m at the Beijing World Championships, this time around, she participated in both sprints and cemented her status as a world class act.
She stormed to victory in the 100m with a scorching time of 10.71s, finishing ahead of USA’s Tori Bowie (10.83s) and Fraser-Pryce (10.86s). The race was so swift that seven women finished under 11s for the first time in history. She once again upstaged the rest of the field to claim the 200m title in 21.78s, exerting revenge from Dutch rival Dafne Schippers who beat her to the world title last year. Thompson became the first female sprinter to win the double since Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Games.
She then claimed Silver in the 4x100m relay, before capping off an impressive season with victory at the Brussels Diamond League, equaling Fraser-Pryce’s Meeting Record (MR) of 10.72s and winning the Diamond Race. She was also a finalist for the IAAF Female World Athlete of the Year award. Speaking of her inspiring season, she said: “2016 was an amazing year for me and I want to carry on my form into next year, which is another really important year”.
Well, that’s it on Part 1 of this series. Watch out for Part 2 in a few days!
