Jamaican women sweep 100m podium, set Olympic record

In one of the most talented sprinting fields ever assembled for the women’s 100m final, the Jamaican women came out victorious with reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah leading the way, breaking Florence Griffith-Joyner’s Olympic record in 10.61 seconds.  Two-time Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce followed in second place, and Shericka Jackson, who won bronze in Rio over 400m, completed the podium sweep for Jamaica in third.

OH MY HEAVENS! 10.61! Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson Herah just broke FloJo’s Olympic record in the women’s 100 meters!

?????? JAMAICAN SWEEP!

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce silver! 10.74!

Shericka Jackson bronze! 10.76! pic.twitter.com/qXpCF7CNJ4

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) July 31, 2021

RELATED: Andre De Grasse wins heat to advance to 100m final 

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Thompson-Herah accomplished the rare sprint double, winning both the 100m and the 200m. In such a stacked field, however, this didn’t make her the clear favourite to win – and she also had not medalled at an international meet since then. Coming out of the semi-finals, it was her teammate Fraser-Pryce, who won the gold medal in the event at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, who held the leading time. It looked in the first half of the race like Fraser-Price might take the win, but Thompson-Herah’s perfectly timed acceleration saw her pass her teammate in the second half to dominate. Fraser-Pryce finished a few strides behind to take the silver medal in 10.74, followed by Jackson, who ran a personal best time of 10.76 seconds for bronze.

4 x 400m final

It was Poland who walked away with the gold medal in the first mixed Olympic 4x400m relay, running 3:09.87 to set the first official Olympic record for the event. The Dominican Republic, which had been DQ’d after the heats but reinstated, ran a national record of 3:10.21 for the silver medal, and the U.S. team (which had also been DQ’d and then reinstated) finished just behind them to round out the podium in 3:10.22.

Athing Mu (@athiiing) making 1:58.07 look easy for the win in her heat of the women’s 800 meters. She’s through to the Olympic final at 19 years old and could be the favorite for the gold medal. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/L0RBlGo6p2

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) July 31, 2021

Women’s 800m semi-finals

NCAA phemon Athing Mu led an incredibly deep women’s 800m through the semi-final, running 1:58.07 in the third heat to qualify for the final. The young American runner looked calm and relaxed throughout the entire race, and is the gold medal favourite heading into the final, which will take place on Tuesday evening in Tokyo (Aug. 3 at 8:25 a.m. ET). Ethopia’s Habitem Alemu and the U.K.’s Alexandra Bell had the second and third fastest times heading into the final, and will be joined by, among others, Keeley Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie of the U.K. and Raevyn Rogers of the U.S. Rogers’ compatriot, Ajee Wilson, did not advance to the final. 

RELATED: Canadians Sage Watson, Marco Arop advance on Day 2 of Tokyo track

Track events will resume this evening, starting at 8:40 pm EST with round one of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, where Canada’s Genevieve Lalonde, Reegan Yee and Alycia Butterworth will be competing for a spot in the final.