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 4×100 with her Jamaican teammates later this week.
