Thompson-Herah emulates fellow Jamaican star sprinter by winning 200m gold to add to her 100m crown
Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates with the Jamaican flag after winning the 200m gold yesterday. Pic/AFP
Elaine Thompson-Herah made Olympic history in Tokyo Tuesday, emulating fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt to complete an unprecedented women’s sprinting double-double with victory in the 200 metres.
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Thompson-Herah, 29, the 2016 Olympics 100m and 200m gold medallist who defended her 100m title on Saturday, sealed a record fourth individual gold after storming home in a blistering 21.53sec.
Namibian teenager Christine Mboma took silver in 21.81sec while the USA’s Gabby Thomas won bronze in 21.87sec. Thompson-Herah’s time was the second fastest in history after Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record of 21.34sec set at the drug-tarnished 1988 Seoul Olympics.
As well as becoming the first woman to claim a 100m-200m double-double, emulating Bolt, who eventually won three consecutive 100m-200m Olympic titles, Thompson-Herah is the only female track and field athlete to win four individual Olympic track golds. “It really means a lot to me to be in that history book, because I’ve been through a lot and it tells my story,” Thompson-Herah said.
The Jamaican favourite had got off to a blazing start, building a lead off the bend which she never relinquished as she motored to the line. It looked as if Thomas and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce would take the silver and bronze, but that duo were passed by a scorching finish over the final 20 metres from Mboma, 18, who plundered silver. “The mission was to go again and capture the medal, which was the plan,” said Thompson-Herah.
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