Elaine Thompson Herah

CATEGORY: Sport

Before the 2021 season, Elaine Thompson Herah was already among the elite in the pantheon of women’s sprinting. But last year she created history for herself and for Jamaica, with conversations now about her place among the best ever.

That year was a landmark campaign for the 29-year-old from Manchester, who saw her career come full circle after her battles with an Achilles injury in recent years, which have limited her since capturing the 100m and 200m titles at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

At the Tokyo Games last summer, Thompson Herah wrote her name into the history books in more ways than one. She defended her 100m Olympic title in spectacular fashion, clocking 10.61 seconds, erasing the 33-year old Olympic record held by the late Florence Griffith-Joyner of the United States.

She also joined an exclusive club of athletes, which include her countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and American athletes Wyonmia Tyus and Gail Devers, as the only women to defend their 100m Olympic titles.

However, her 100m success was only the beginning of her remarkable story.

She went on to capture the 200m crown in a new national record of 21.53, becoming the second-fastest woman in the 200m, and in the process, breaking the record previously held by another iconic Jamaican sprinter, Merlene Ottey.

In her successful title defences, Thompson Herah became the first woman and second athlete to win back-to-back 100m and 200m Olympic titles, joining track and field legend and her countryman, Usain Bolt.

For good measure, she added another gold to the collection, as a member of the 4x100m winning relay time that set a new national record.

In basking in the glow of her accomplishments last August in an interview with The Gleaner, she said that it was a moment she thought she would be deprived of, given the injury struggles that have followed her.

“Two months ago or probably a month and a half ago, I didn’t think I would be here today but through it all I held my composure. I believed in myself, I believe in God and I must say the team around me is very strong. They give me tremendous support,” Thompson Herah said.

In light of this, Thompson Herah is being awarded the 2021 RJRGLEANER Honour Award in the category of Sport, for her exceptional performances in 2021 and her resilience in overcoming obstacles to emerge as one of the greatest female sprinters of all time, a multiple Olympic champion, and the fastest woman alive.

It was not just the support that ascended her to greatness throughout 2021, however. Her records and titles were the manifestations of the affirmations that she made for herself at the start of the year, targeting running 10.5, 21.5, being the fastest woman alive and becoming a double Olympic sprint champion.

In an interview with the BBC, Thompson Herah said that the daily affirmations helped her belief and fuelled her drive.

“You write it, you talk, you say it and naturally you will believe,” Thompson Herah said.

That belief was realised last August at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon where she ran 10.54, the second-fastest time in history, a feat that took time for her to process.

Her success has been a part of a journey in which she said she wasn’t the most promising junior athlete. However, she said that it was the love of the sport that has taken her to the heights that she enjoys now.

“The love takes me to higher places. I wasn’t the champion in high school; other girls were faster than me. But I’m competitive, hard-working and motivated because of where I’m coming from,” Thompson Herah said.

The individual accolades mounted after her campaign, as she was named World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year for 2021, International Sports Press Association Best Female Athlete of the Year, the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, and the 2021 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportswoman of the Year.

Her 10.54 time in Oregon has ignited the conversation about her chances of breaking the world record of 10.49 held by Griffth-Joyner. Thompson Herah says that she feels she has a real chance with the World Athletics Championships in Oregon approaching in two months’ time.

“When I was training I wasn’t thinking about breaking a record. Seeing that I ran 10.54 without even trying, I think now because I can prepare mentally and physically for that, it is possible,” said the champion sprinter.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Elaine Thompson Herah spent the majority of her junior years running for Manchester High School.

• She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Service Management and Culinary Arts.

• She was awarded Order of Distinction (Commander Class) in 2021.

• The world-class sprinter is married to former athlete and her current coach, Derron Herah, since 2019.

OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Elaine Thompson Herah became the first woman to successfully defend Olympic 100m and 200m titles.

• She set a new Olympic Record in the 100m – 10.61 seconds.

• She became the first woman and second athlete to win back-to-back Olympic 100m and 200m titles.

• The top sprinter is the second-fastest woman of all time in both the 100m and 200m.

• She is the fourth woman to have successfully defended the Olympic 100m title.