Isn’t it surprising that the reigning women’s 100m Olympic champion, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce is not considered as favourite to retain her title in Rio? Other younger athletes like: Dafne Schippers, Elaine Thompson and Tori Bowie are being tipped ahead of Fraser-Pryce for GOLD.
Back to back wins in 2008 and 2012, but Fraser Pryce will be hoping she can silence critics who think she might have lost a yard of pace and facing a daunting task winning a triple-triple.
Injuries have not helped Fraser-Pryce’s cause as she has only run one sub 11s race this season, finishing 2nd at the Jamaican trials with a time of 10.93s. In fact she was beaten by Thompson who many have already anointed as Fraser-Pryce’s successor, even though she is still active.
Schippers, Thompson, and Bowie are undoubtedly the best crop of younger athletes around, and on paper the women’s 100m look like a straight fight between them. Since last year that each got a medal at the World Championships in Beijing, they have evolved and are dominating.
However, one can’t write off Fraser-Pryce. She’s a Championship athlete as was seen last year when she stormed to victory at the World Championships , winning the title in 10.76s, a time only bettered since then by Thompson in 10.70s (Jamaican Trials) and English Gardner 10.74s (US Trials).
Although when one looks at what other athletes have done, you may want to fear for Fraser Pryce. Bowie has the 5th and 6th fastest times of 10.78s and 10.80s in the 100m this year, and if you put into account how she came from being a dark horse to world 100m Bronze medallist, then you will understand how big a threat she is.
Thompson is the fastest woman this year at the Olympics and already looks like a sure bet for glory. From last year that she clocked 21.66 just 0.03s shy of Schippers’ winning time of 21.63s, she now seems ready to compete and win in the 100m as well.
Schippers might be very comfortable running the 200m, but she is also a predator. Remember how she stormed from a losing position to claim Silver behind Fraser Pryce in 10.81s, which is a Dutch National Record (NR). Schippers knows how to recover from a bad situation.
We might have been pitching only four potential people to win the Olympic title, but let’s not forget that there are two African ladies who will be in the hunt for it as well. Côte d’Ivoire’s Murielle Ahouré has been running so well this year and has two records to her name.
Ahouré first set a new African Record of 10.78s, making her the 3rd fastest woman in the world this year. She also ran a Championship Record (CR) of 10.99s to win the 100m African title in Durban. So she is definitely a challenger.
Then there is Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare who has made appearances in three major 100m finals dating back to the London 2012 Olympics. Depending on how well she manages her schedules, which could see her compete in the 200m and Long Jump, she will up there challenging.
She may not have run a sub 11s this season, it could be a strategy of not flattering to deceive, as she had shown great promises in the past but unable to make it to the podium. Don’t read much into her Season’s Best of 11.02s set at the Nigerian Trials, she is a contender.
If Fraser Pryce somehow conjures up a win, it will no doubt be the biggest of her career.
