TOKYO —
Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson finished 1-2-3 in a clean sweep for the island nation.
Thompson-Herah pulled away from her teammates late in the final to finish in an Olympic-record 10.61 seconds — the second-fastest time ever in the event. Fraser-Pryce finished in second in 10.74 seconds and Jackson rounded out the trio in 10.76 seconds to nab the bronze medal.
For Thompson-Herah, it was a second straight Olympic gold medal after also winning it at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. Fraser-Pryce had won 100 meter Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012.
Thompson-Herah’s time broke the previous Olympic record of 10.62 seconds set by Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Games. Griffith Joyner still holds the world record in the event at 10.49 seconds.
Thompson-Herah and Fraser-Pryce were stellar in the early rounds, with such great starts and ahead by so much in their first two races that they were both able to throttle down and breeze over the finish line. Not going full-out meant they reserved at least some energy heading into the final, key since the semifinals and medal race were held about two hours and 20 minutes after Fraser-Pryce crossed the line in the third and final semifinal.
The only American in the final was Teahna Daniels; Daniels finished seventh in the final after running a personal-best 10.98 seconds in the semifinal.
The most surprising result from the semis was British racer Dina Asher-Smith. The silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships was third in her heat but her time of 11.05 seconds was not fast enough to advance. Asher-Smith is the reigning 200m world champion, so she will get a chance to redeem herself starting Monday.
