CLERMONT, FL — Did you know that Olympic sprint double champion Elaine Thompson-Herah ran 10.78 (3.6 m/s) seconds in the 100-meters this past weekend? Well, if you missed it, here are the highlights of the Jamaican star sprinter clocking the second-fastest time in the world this season at the Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meet in Clermont, FL, on Sunday, May 2.
Thompson-Herah Goes Fast In Florida
The time is the second-fastest in the world this season, behind the blistering 10.72 secs clocking by American Sha’Carri Richardson at the 2021 Miramar Invitational at the Ansin Sports Complex in Florida on Saturday, April 10.
After posting a wind-aided 10.76 (3.6 m/s) seconds to win her heat, Thompson-Herah returned to take the final after shaking off a slow start to pull away from the rest of the field to improve on her previous season’s best of 11.21, clocked in Kingston at the Velocity Fest 9 meeting on April 17.
The time on Sunday by the 28-year-old MVP Track & Field Club representative matched her sixth-fastest from Lausanne (2016) and Shanghai (2017).
Thompson-Herah is currently preparing to defend her 100m and 200m Olympic titles after running away with the sprint crowns at the 2016 Games in Rio.
On Sunday at the Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meet, another Jamaican Natalliah Whyte, the 2019 World Championships 4x100m gold medalist, posted 11.08 to take second place, while fellow countrywoman Ashanti Moore, who now trains with the Pure Athletics group under the guidance of Lance Brauman, ran a personal best time of 11.10s for third.
Greene And Blake Shares Winning Time
Meanwhile, the men’s 100m went to Antiguan Cejhae Greene who clocked 10.02 seconds with the help of a slight 2.1 m/s tailwind. He shared the same time with Jamaican Yohan Blake who had also posted 9.98s (2.7 m/s) along with the Antiguan when the pair qualified as the fastest runners from the heats.
Devin Quinn was third in the final with 10.03, while high schooler Jaylen Slade finished fourth at 10.04, and fellow teen star Erriyon Knighton taking fifth with 10.07. Knighton ran a wind-aided 9.99s (2.7 m/s) in the preliminaries.
Slade won the men’s 200m with a personal best time of 20.20 (0.3 m/s) when taking heat one over Edmond Amaning who clocked 20.87 for third place overall. Lashawn Merritt of the USA won heat three with the second-fastest time overall, at 20.55 (0.7 m/s). The other heat winner was USA’s Tony McQuay who ran 20.89 (0.9 m/s).
Elsewhere, Great Britain’s 2015 world silver medalist Shara Proctor leaped a season-best 6.77m to edge countrywomen and European 2016 silver medalist Jazmin Sawyers who did 6.75m for a seasonal best.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and Michael Mathieu from The Bahamas won the women’s and men’s 400m titles.
Jackson, the Olympic bronze medalist was a comfortable winner in the women’s race with 52.01 to finish ahead of American Kaylin Whitney (52.29).
The men’s race saw Michael Mathieu taking the top honor in 46.80, just ahead of Jamaican Nathon Allen who ran 46.85.
