Elaine Thompson
RIO DE JANEIRO — Elaine Thompson of Jamaica won gold in the women's 100 meters on Saturday at the Rio Olympics, ending the dominance of teammate Shelly-Ann Frayser-Price.
Thompson led throughout the race and finished in 10.71 seconds.
Tori Bowie (10.81) of the USA closed fast to edge out and Frayser-Pryce (10.83).
While the USA snapped a streak of back-to-back bronze finishes, the event once again belonged to Jamaica, which extended its run of dominance to three Olympic Games.
It's the third Olympics in a row in which Jamaica has claimed at least two medals in the discipline.
The last American female sprinter to finish higher than bronze in the 100 was Lauryn Williams, who claimed silver at the 2004 Athens Games.
Thompson was a late bloomer. She didn’t make her high school track team and, until she finished second in the 200 last year at world championships, had barely made a splash on the international scene, tucked behind Fraser-Pryce and the country’s seven-time Olympic medalist, Veronica Campbell-Brown, among others.Thompson’s win over Fraser-Pryce at nationals caused a stir, but then both runners took to the sideline — Fraser-Pryce with a toe injury and Thompson with a strained hamstring.
She looked no worse for wear over three heats in Rio de Janeiro. In the final, she got stronger as she approached the line and left what had been billed as an uber-competitive field far behind.Surprise finalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast finished fourth, followed by Dafne Schippers, the Dutch heptathlete-turned-sprinter.
Gardner, the champion at U.S. Olympic Trials last month, was two more spots back.“They are not unbeatable,” Gardner insisted, when asked about the Jamaicans’ unending dominance in these races.