Defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah will continue her Olympic sprint double title defense when she begins the second chapter of her mission in the women’s 200 meters heats at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Monday.
Thompson-Herah Looking To Build On 100m Success
Thompson-Herah who successfully defended her 100m crown on Saturday with a sizzling 10.61 seconds performance to set an Olympic record to lead a Jamaican 1-2-3 sweep of the event, will race from the sixth heat of the women’s 200m.
The 29-year-old will face four more sprinters in her heat and should easily progress to the semifinals, with three of the five starters from the heat advancing. Crystal Emmanuel of Canada and Beth Dobbin of Great Britain are also expected to join her in the next round.
READ MORE: Tokyo 2020: [Watch video] Thompson-Herah sets Olympic 100m record, leads Jamaica 1-2-3 finish
Two other Jamaicans, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, the 100m silver and bronze medalists, will also return to start their sprint double duty on Monday.
Fraser-Pryce and Jackson Will Return As Well
Fraser-Pryce is the leading entrant in heat two with her season’s and personal best of 21.79 seconds and she will be running her first 200m at a major event since winning the sprint double at the 2013 world championships.
Two-time world champion, Dafne Schippers from The Netherlands, who opted to run just the 200m and 4x100m relay in Tokyo, and Namibia’s national record holder Beatrice Masilingi, will take on Fraser-Pryce in heat two.
Meanwhile, Jackson, the runner-up at the Jamaica Trials, is confident that she can win the gold medal in the 200m and she will start her hunt from heat five against Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, Italian Dalia Kaddar, and Ivet Lalova-Collio of Bulgaria.
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Elsewhere, the world leader and 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials champion Gabby Thomas, the second-fastest all-time in the women’s 200m, will bow into action for the first time at the Tokyo 2020 Games when she races from heat four against Christine Mboma of Namibia.
The featured early clash sees Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas going up against 100m fourth-place finisher Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast in heat one, while Jenna Prandini of the United States goes in the sixth heat and compatriot Anavia Battle tackle Swiss star Mujinga Kambundji in heat three.
World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith from Great Britain will not take part in the event after she pulled out with a hamstring injury on Saturday.
The women’s 200m heats are slated for Monday morning Tokyo time at 10:30 a.m.