The World’s Fastest Man has been paying attention to the world’s fastest women in the run-up to the Olympics.
While the men have been taking the 100 meters at a leisurely pace this year - or, in the case of Usain Bolt, barely at all - the women have been playing “Can You Top ThisIJ”
Five sprinters have joined the small list of women to crack the 10.8-second mark: Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast and American teammates English Gardner, Tianna Bartoletta and Tori Bowie. Throw in two-time defending Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has cracked 10.8 seconds 11 times before, and the women’s 100 might be the most up-for-grabs race on the card.
“I’ve been trying to pick the top three for the longest while,” Bolt said. “It’s going to be a hard one. The women are really pushing. The guys have really let us down this season.”
Until this year, the 10.7-and-better territory was dominated by four women: World-record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Marion Jones (who has had several of her results overturned because of doping), Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter, who ran the anchor leg in the U.S.’s world-record 4x100 at the london Games.
Thompson bullied her way into that group by running 10.70 at Jamaica’s nationals to beat Fraser-Pryce. Both have been dealing with minor injuries since (Fraser-Pryce a toe, Thompson a hamstring), but their coach, Stephen Francis, told the Jamaica Gleaner they should be ready to go.