Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson all broke the barrier 11-seconds when winning their respective heats at the 2021 Jamaica Olympic trials, while Briana Williams was also a heat winner on Day One at the championships on Thursday.
Jackson, the Olympic 400m bronze medalist, clocked the fastest time in the preliminaries when winning heat three with a personal best of 10.91 seconds (0.4m/s), her first-ever sub-11 seconds clocking. Her fellow MVP training partner Natasha Morrison finished second in the heat in 11.06s.
Double Olympic sprint champion Thompson-Herah was the second-fastest qualifier from the heat with a time of 10.96s (1.0m/s) and she looked very comfortable when winning heat two.
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Thompson-Herah’s coach Stephen Francis said the Rio 2016 sprint queen was in the form of her life and she showed a glimpse of what is to come later on at these trials with her heat-winning performance. Natalliah Whyte, also of MVP clocked 11.14s for second place and advanced to the semis as well.
World-leader Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 2021 world leader and fastest woman alive, cruised to victory in heat one with a time of 10.97s (1.1m/s). The 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion got off to a quick start and ran for about 50m before easing home ahead of Shashalee Forbes who ran 11.13s for second place.
Meanwhile, national junior record holder Briana Williams showed her class when winning her heat as well in 11.00s (0.5m/s). The 19-year-old who is coached by Trinidad and Tobago’s sprint legend Ato Boldon, also looked in command when winning the fourth and final preliminary heat.
NCAA fourth-place finisher Kemba Nelson was second to Williams in 11.05, while former Edwin Allen standout Kevona Davis was just below her personal best after she recovered from a very poor start to rushed back into an automatic qualifying spot – taking third in 11.19. That time was a season’s best for the University of Texas freshman.
The women’s 100m semi-finals and final at the 2021 Jamaica Olympic trials will take place on Friday.
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