Thompson-Herah eyes 60m PB, but won't be pressured to break world record

Elaine Thompson-Herah isn’t prepared to put any added pressure on herself to break the women’s 60m world record at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham this weekend, but is eyeing a new personal best as she looks to test her early-season fitness.

The five-time Olympic gold medalist is set to race indoors for the first time since 2019 when she also competed at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix, and the Jamaican sprinter is looking forward to competing on the same track where she set her PB of 6.98 seconds in 2017.

Thompson-Herah opened her 2022 campaign on home soil with an outdoor 60m race at the Queens/Grace Jackson Invitational last month where she clocked 7.19 seconds into a -1.9m/sec headwind.

She will certainly be targeting something faster in Birmingham and could possibly attack the 6.92 women’s world 60m record, which was set by Russian great Irina Privalova in 1993.

“I really want to go below my PB, of course, and if I could get the world record, no problem, but I am not putting myself under pressure,” she said at her press conference.

“I am just using these races to see where I am at. I am not sure if I will take on the World Indoor Championships, I am just really excited to be back on the track.”

READ MORE: Thompson-Herah to race in the 60m at ORLEN Copernicus Cup

Thompson-Herah, who decided to split from the MVP Track Club and quit working with her long-time coach Stephen Francis about five months about, added that her focus has been mainly on training and she just wants to see how things have been going.

“I am taking it month by month to see where I am at,” she added. “This is a training process for me to see where I am at right now.”

Do you want to see how fast Thompson-Herah will go on Saturday (19)? Well, follow all the action from the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham by clicking here for streaming coverage information.