Thompson-Herah is the first-ever female sprinter, and the second sprinter afterUsain Bolt, to win the "sprint double" at consecutive Olympics, capturing 100 m and 200 m gold at the2016 Rio Olympics, and defending both titles at the2020 Tokyo Olympics. A six-time Olympic medallist, she rose to prominence at the2015 World Athletics Championships, winning silver in the 200 m and, at the time, becoming the fifth-fastest woman in history over the distance. The next year at the Rio Olympics, she became the first woman sinceFlorence Griffith Joyner in 1988 to win 100 m and 200 m gold at the Olympics.
After the Rio Olympics, Thompson-Herah was plagued by anAchilles tendon injury, which affected her performance at the2017 World Athletics Championships and the2019 World Athletics Championships. However, she returned to the top ofathletics at the Tokyo Olympics, retaining her 100 m title in a new Olympic record of 10.61 s, and her 200 m title in a new personal best and national record of 21.53 s. After winning a third gold medal in the4 × 100 m relay, she became the third sprinter after Griffith Joyner and Bolt to complete an Olympic sprinting triple.
Thompson is a native of Banana Ground inManchester Parish, Jamaica.[6] Running for Christiana High School and laterManchester High School, she was a good but not outstanding scholastic sprinter; her best result at the JamaicanISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships came in 2009, when she placed fourth in the Class Two100 metres in 12.01 seconds.[7] In 2011, her final year at Manchester High, she was left off the track team for disciplinary reasons.[6][7]
After high school, Thompson was recruited to theUniversity of Technology, Jamaica by Paul Francis, brother of MVP Track Club head coach Stephen Francis. With MVP coaching, her times started improving steadily.[7][8]
In 2014, Thompson won her first intercollegiate title, placed fifth in 11.26 s at the national championships, and had a seasonal best of 11.17 s.[7][9] She represented Jamaica at theCommonwealth Games inGlasgow, running in the4 × 100 metres relay heats; Jamaica won their heat in 42.44 s, and went on to win gold in the final with Thompson-Herah not in the line-up.[9][11]
She was expected to run the 100 metres at the Jamaican National Championships, which doubled as trials for the2015 World Championships inBeijing; however, her coach Stephen Francis pulled her from that event and instead had her concentrate on the200 metres, in which she had set a personal best of 22.37 s in May.[12][16] The move generated controversy in Jamaica; Francis stated that Thompson was not ready to double and that she had been prepared for the 200 m in which her main weakness, the start, would not play as large a role.[17][18] She won the national 200 m title in 22.51s, qualifying for the World Championships.[19]
At theBeijing World Championships, she won a silver medal in the 200 m, finishing just 0.03 s behindDafne Schippers of Netherlands. Thompson's time of 21.66 s was faster than the previous championships record. Fellow JamaicanVeronica Campbell Brown was third in 21.97 s.[23] She went onto be part of Jamaica's4 × 100 m relay team, winning a gold medal.[24]
Thompson kicked off her season indoors running multiple 60 m races, including finishing second at theGlasgow Indoor Grand Prix in a new personal best of 7.14 s.[25] At theWorld Indoor Championships inPortland, she would win a bronze medal in the60 m final finishing with a time of 7.06 s,[26] she had previously improved her personal best to 7.04 s in the semi-finals.[27]
On 22 May, Thompson won her first scoring Diamond League event, triumphing over 100 m at theRabat Diamond League in 11.02 s, beating a strong field that includedBlessing Okagbare andCarmelita Jeter.[28][29] She continued her good form by winning over the same distance at theRome Diamond League in 10.87 s, her second-fastest clocking.[30][31] At theJamaican Championships, Thompson ran a new personal best and equal national record of 10.70 s to win overShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce andChristania Williams.[32] Thompson won her heat in the 200 m in 23.34 s, but pulled out of the semi-finals due to injury.[33] She was granted a medical exemption to compete in the 200 m at theOlympics.[34]
On 18 February, Thompson competed in the 60 m at theBirmingham Indoor Grand Prix, the final meeting of the2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour. She ran a personal best of 6.98 s, making her the equal seventh-fastest woman of all time and one of eight to break the 7 second barrier over the distance at the time.[43]
At theWorld Relays inNassau, Thompson ran in the 4 × 200 m relay, with the team running a time of 1:29.04 to win gold.[44] She enjoyed a strong start to her outdoor season, winning her first three individual international races, running 22.19 s to win the 200 m at theDoha Diamond League,[45] whilst also clocking a world lead of 10.78 s to win over 100 m at theShanghai Diamond League,[46] and winning at theJamaica International Invitational, running 22.09 s for 200 m.[47] In June, Thompson won theJamaican title over 100 m, running 10.71 s - just 0.01 s outside her personal best.[48]
The following year, Thompson was a part of Jamaica’s team at theWorld Relays, where she won a bronze medal in the4 × 200 m relay, running a time of 1:33.21 seconds.[55] On 21 June, she took home her fourth successive 100 m title at the Jamaican Championships, winning in 10.73 s, beating outShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce by three-thousandths of a second. The race was the first time two women had gone sub-10.75 s in one race.[56] She returned two days later to also win the 200 m, clocking 22.00 s.[57] In August, she competed at thePan American Games inLima, winning gold in the 100 m in 11.18 s.[58] Later that month, she secured victory over 100 m at theParis Diamond League, running a time of 10.98 s.[59]
At the2019 World Championships inDoha, she finished fourth in the100 m running 10.93 s.[60] Thompson-Herah achieved a time of 22.61 s in winning her200 m heat, qualifying for the semi-finals, but she was unable to start due to anAchilles tendon injury.[61]
2020-2021: Triple Tokyo Olympic champion and 10.54 s clocking
Thompson recorded the fastest time in theCOVID-19-interrupted 2020 season, running 10.85 s to win at theRome Diamond League on 17 September.[62][63] She followed it up by winning the same event at theDoha Diamond League on 25 September, in 10.87 s.[64]
In 2021, Thompson-Herah enjoyed a strong start to her season, winning the 100 m at the Pure Athletics Sprint meet inClermont on 2 May, in 10.78 s.[65] At the Jamaican Championships, in June, she placed third in both the 100 m and 200 m, with times of 10.84 s and 22.02 s, respectively, qualifying for the delayed2020 Tokyo Olympics in both events.[66] On 6 July, at theGyulai István Memorial, she won the 100 m in 10.71 s-a new meeting record and her fastest time since 2017.[67]
At the Tokyo Games, Thompson-Herah won the 100 m final, winning a gold medal as Jamaica completed a medal sweep of the podium, withShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce andShericka Jackson receiving silver and bronze medals, respectively.[68] Running into an 0.6 m/s headwind, she achieved the joint second-fastest time in history of10.61 seconds, setting both theJamaican record and the Olympic record, breakingFlorence Griffith Joyner's mark of 10.62 s set at the1988 Seoul Olympics.[69] Thompson-Herah ran a top speed of 39.7 km/h, the fastest speed ever achieved by a female sprinter; the previous top speed was from Griffith Joyner who reached 39.1 km/h in 1988.[70] Competing in the 200 m, she first equalled her personal best of 21.66 s in the semi-finals. In the final, she won the gold medal with a new lifetime best of21.53 seconds, also the then-second-fastest result in history.[71] In addition, she was a part of4 × 100 m relay team whichwon the competition in the third-fastest time ever and a new national record of 41.02 s to regain a title last won by Jamaica at the2004 Athens Games.[72][73]
In her first post-Olympic race on 21 August, competing at thePrefontaine Classic inEugene, Thompson-Herah stormed to the 100 m victory with a new personal best of 10.54 seconds, the second-fastest time in women's history and only 0.05 s off the world record.[74][75] She became the first woman to break the 40 km/h barrier.[76] At theAthletissima meet, she placed second in the 100 m in 10.64 s, behind Fraser-Pryce who powered to her new lifetime best of 10.60 s, recording, however, the fastest runner-up time in history.[77] She concluded her very successful season with wins at both theMeeting de Paris andDiamond League Final inZürich with times of 10.72 s and 10.65 s, respectively, to take her third Diamond Trophy, breaking meeting records at both meets.[78][79]
As of the end of the season, Thompson-Herah had many placements in the women's all-time top 10 in her specialist distances. She was the first woman to hold more than three marks in the all-time top 10 over 100 m (four) and more than two marks in the 200 m (three) simultaneously. She was also the first woman to run more than three legal times under 10.70 seconds (four), and the first woman to achieve more than two legal times under 21.70 seconds (three), respectively.[80][81]
In her first outdoor international competition of the year on 16 April, Thompson-Herah ran a world lead of 10.89 s to win her heat at the USATF Golden Games, before pulling out of the final.[87] On 28 May, she competed over 100 m at thePrefontaine Classic, winning in 10.79 s.[88] She kept up her good form with another win at theRabat Diamond League, in 10.83 s.[89] At the Jamaican Championships, she placed third in the 100 m clocking 10.89 s and second in the 200 m, running 22.05 s.[90][91]
At theWorld Championships inEugene, Thompson-Herah finished third in the 100 m with a time of 10.81 s, being part of a Jamaican medal sweep withShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce winning gold andShericka Jackson taking silver.[92][93] In the 200 m, she finished seventh in 22.39 s, despite running 21.97 s in the semi-finals.[94][95] She recovered from her disappointment to win a silver medal in the4 × 100 m relay.[96]
In August, she competed at theCommonwealth Games inBirmingham. In the 100 m, she held offJulien Alfred to win in a time of 10.95 s.[97] Thompson-Herah completed a sprint double by also winning over 200 m in a games record of 22.02 s.[98] She won her third medal of the Games by winning bronze in the4 × 100 m relay,[99] later upgraded to silver due toNigeria's doping disqualification.[100]
2023-present: World Silver medal and injury issues
In 2023, Thompson-Herah had an injury-disrupted start to the season,[101] which culminated in her finishing fifth in the 100 m at the Jamaican Championships in 11.06 s, missing out on individual qualification for the2023 World Athletics Championships inBudapest.[102] She did compete in the heats of the4 × 100 m relay in Budapest, winning a silver medal as Jamaica went onto place second in the final.
In the latter half of the season, Thompson-Herah's form improved as she finished third over 100 m at theZürich Diamond League on 31 August in 11.00 s.[103] On 4 September, she ran her first sub-11-second clocking of the season, running 10.92 s to take the win at theGalà dei Castelli meet inBellinzona.[104] She won again at theBrussels Diamond League on 8 September, running 10.84 s over 100 m.[105] At theDiamond League Final on 16 September, Thompson-Herah finished third over 100 m, in a season's best of 10.79 s.[106]
The following year, Thompson-Herah suffered an Achilles injury at theNew York City Grand Prix on 9 June and had to be carried off the track. She announced she would miss the2024 Summer Olympics as a result.[107]
^Time from the heats; Thompson was replaced in the final.
^abThompson became the first woman to win a gold medal in both the 100 m and 200 m at the same Olympics (Rio 2016) sinceFlorence Griffith Joyner accomplished the feat at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.[115]
^Qualified for the semifinals, but did not start (Achilles injury)[61]
^Tied for second-fastest result of all time in women's 100 m, but Griffith Joyner ran a wind-aided 10.54. Thompson-Herah's mark has been labeled by the media as the 'unofficial' world record at that distance.[110]
^"All-time women's best 100m".alltime-athletics.com. Retrieved1 January 2022.Inconsistent data across alltime-athletics.com / tilastopaja.eu / World Athletics databases. Added: 10.78 legal mark from 2021-05-02 inClermont, FL
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2016[116]
