Thompson Herah sends clear message with impressive 10.78secs run

BY PAUL A REID
Observer writer

JAMAICA’s double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson Herah has sent the message that she will not be giving up her titles without a fight after she ran a season’s best 10.78 seconds (1.8m/s), second best in the world so far this year, while winning the women’s 100m final at the Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meet held at the Clermont track in Central Florida on Sunday.

Thompson Herah, who led the world with 10.85 seconds last year, was running her fastest time in two years since 2019 when she ran 10.73 seconds. She then posted on social media afterwards, “Never measure your progress using someone else’s ruler.”

Three other Jamaicans scored victories at the meet that saw the athletes battle heavy winds — Olympic finalists Janieve Russell and Shericka Jackson as well as former St Jago High School athlete Sabina Allen who is returning from a three-year layoff from the sport and had a personal best in the long jump.

Thompson Herah, who had run a wind-aided 10.76 seconds (3.6m/s) in the preliminaries, trails American Sha’Carri Richardson who ran 10.72 seconds at the Miramar Invitational in Hollywood, Florida, earlier this year – the sixth fastest ever.

Jamaicans filled the top three spots in the race with Natalliah Whyte running 11.08 seconds, just off her season’s best 11.07 seconds, and first-year professional Ashanti Moore running a personal best 11.10 seconds for third.

In the prelims, Whyte had run 11.04 seconds (3.6m/s) and Moore ran 11.16 (3.3m/s).

Yohan Blake was second in the men’s 100m in a wind-aided 10.02 seconds (2.1m/s), the same time credited to Antiguan Cejhae Green, with both men also running the same times in the prelims – a wind-aided 9.98 seconds (2.7m/s).

World Championships finalist Nickel Ashmeade was seventh overall with a wind-aided 10.11 seconds (2.2m/s), Julian Forte was ninth with 10.19 seconds (2.1m/s), while Jevaughn Minzie ran 10.52 seconds (2.1m/s), Kevaughn Rattray ended with 10.61 seconds (1.5m/s) and Oraine Palmer, 10.85 seconds (2.4m/s).

Former world record holder Asafa Powell also ran in the first round, clocking 10.07 seconds (4.5m/s).

Jackson, the two-time World Championships bronze medallist and 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist, clocked a season’s best 52.01 seconds to win the 400m.

Former World Under-20 gold medallist Tiffany James was third in 52.67 seconds, equalling her season’s best done in Miami a week earlier; Christine Day was fourth with 53.57 seconds and Junelle Bromfield was sixth with a season’s best 54.89 seconds.

Russell, who was running the 400m hurdles for the first time this season, won with a time of 56.02 seconds, tying the Texas-based Shiann Salmon as the fastest Jamaicans so far this season.

Allen won the women’s triple jump with a wind-aided 13.65m (3.1m/s) and also had a legal 13.08m (1.9m/s) jump.

The athlete, who also starred at Campbell University in the National Collegiate Athletics Association, was third in the long jump with a wind-aided 6.54m (3.7m/s) and also had a legal 6.53m (1.9m/s) which beat her previous personal best 6.31m done in April 2018.

Nathon Allen was second in the men’s 400m in 46.85 seconds. Fresh off her personal best in the 100m recently, Natasha Morrison ran 23.21 seconds (1.1m/s) for second in the women’s 200m, her season’s best and second-best time ever.

Nigel Ellis was fifth in the men’s 200m in a season’s best 20.89 seconds (0.9m/s), with former Jamaica College runner Ryiem Forde in seventh place in 20.91 seconds (0.9m/s), his first run over the 200m this season.

Commonwealth Games champion Ronald Levy ran a wind-aided 13.69 seconds (2.6m/s) to lead qualifiers in the 110m hurdles but did not contest the final won by Jeffrey Juimis in 13.70 seconds (2.8m/s).

Thirty-eight-year-old Richard Phillips was third in the final in 13.86 seconds (2.8m/s) after qualifying with 14.05 seconds (2.6m/s).

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson Herah reacts after competing in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in this August 6, 2017 file photo. (Photo: AFP)