Elaine Thomspon-Herah won both the 100m and 200m in Tokyo. This is the story of the 200m, written by Pierre Weil. Elaine Thompson-Herah battled Achilles pain for almost two years.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, defended her titles from Rio 2016, and battled back, photo (London 2017), by Mike Deering / The Shoe Addicts for RunBlogRun
Jamaica's Thompson-Herah Completes Olympic Double-Double with 200m Win
By Pierre Weil
TOKYO, Japan -- The Women's 200 meter Final Tuesday night saw Elaine Thompson-Herah do something that only Usain Bolt has ever done, win the 100 and 200-meter dashes in back-to-back Olympics.
Thompson-Herah left no doubt about who the fastest woman in the world is, following up an Olympic Record in her 100 win by becoming the second-fastest woman ever in the 200 with a winning time of 21.53.
"It's a new PB and a national record. I am so, so happy," said Thompson-Herah. "The ups and downs have been so many and to come here five years later and to win two events is just amazing."
Thompson-Herah, starting in lane 7, had a very solid start before pulling away from the field in the home stretch. By the 125-meter mark, you could tell it was going to be a race for second.
That race for second saw an incredible comeback from 18-year-old Christine Mboma of Namibia, who stormed into the Silver medal slot with a time of 21.81 after being in sixth place off the curve.
"This is my first Olympics. I came here for experience, but I did better (than I expected)," Mboma said. "I am really happy with my performance. I am proud of myself."
Gabby Thomas, the US Champion and third-fastest woman of all time in the 200, just held off Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica for Bronze with a time of 21.87 in her first Olympic Games.
"I fought tooth and nail those last 30 meters," Thomas said. "I gave it my best effort and I'm really, really happy that effort came out with a medal."
Fraser-Pryce, an 8-time Olympic Medalist, just missed the podium this time in what might have been her last individual Olympic race.
Thompson-Herah, Mboma, Thomas; a top-3 that few expected coming into the Olympics, but an exciting race nonetheless. Thompson-Herah, after becoming the first woman to ever complete the double-double, will now attempt to break the World Record in the 4x100 with her Jamaican teammates later this week.
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