It was the race for the title of the World’s Fastest Woman in the 100-meter dash. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was the two-time defending Olympic champion but had fellow countrywoman Elaine Thompson come in as one of her biggest threats. From the United States, Fraser-Pryce’s biggest threats were English Gardener and Tori Bowie.
It was Thompson who would go on to claim the title of World’s Fastest Woman, taking it from her countrywoman Fraser-Pryce. Tori Bowie finished with the silver medal as she just leaned at the line ahead of the former two-time Olympic champion. Thompson was over a tenth of a second ahead of Bowie, running a time of 10.71. For the first time ever, seven women run under a time under 11 seconds.
Jamaicans and Americans Dominate Field
The two top qualifiers were Bowie and Fraser-Pryce while Gardner and Thompson were the two runners that were on their outside, ready to put pressure on them. Christania Williams of Jamaica was the third Jamaican in the event as the third American, Tianna Bartoletta, failed to make it to the finals.
Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands was in the outside lane and had a shot to medal with a stellar run but her chances were better in the 200. The other two qualifiers from this race were Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast and Michelle-Lee Ahye from Trinidad and Tobago.
Dominance From Thompson
Bowie was right between Fraser-Pryce and Thompson, two of the best starters in the world so a fast start was absolutely necessary if she wanted to win gold. Gardener is the National Champion and hoped to medal as well.
The start from Thompson was perfect and so was the rest of the race. The Jamaican’s 200-meter ability showed from the get-go as she roared to an early lead and did not look back. She opened up a significant lead with about 15-20 meters to go, something similar to what Usain Bolt did back in 2008 in Beijing. The finish was huge for Bowie as she took silver by ,03 seconds. Ta Lou finished in fourth by a few thousandths of a second.
