WALNUT, Calif. — Five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah headlines a strong field for the women’s 100 meters Elite section at the 2022 USATF Golden Games on Saturday, April 16 at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California.
The meeting, which is the second U.S. stop on the 2022 World Athletics Continental Tour – Gold series, is part of the 2022 Mt. Sac Relays being held at Mt. San Antonio College. Read more: Start lists for the 2022 USATF Golden Games at the Mt. SAC Relays
Thompson-Herah, the 100m and 200m sprint double champion at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, will return to competition for the first time since opening her outdoor campaign with a 400m race in Kingston, last month.
The Jamaicans usually stay closer to home during their early-season preparations, but with the focus currently being on the juniors, following last week’s high school boys’ and girls’ CHAMPS 2022 and this weekend’s Carifta Games 2022 taking priority, most of the country’s top senior athletes have opted to compete overseas this month.
READ MORE: USATF Golden Games 2022 at the Mt. SAC Relays TV schedule
On Saturday at the 2022 USATF Golden Games at the Mt. SAC Relays, Thompson-Herah will make her season debut in the 100m where she’s set to take on a strong field that also includes compatriot Briana Williams, who ran the lead-off leg on the winning Olympic 4x100m relay team in Tokyo.
The 29-year-old will also battle against a host of Americans, including USATF Bermuda Games winner Teahna Daniels, Gabby Thomas, the Olympic 200m bronze medalist, Aleia Hobbs, Tamara Clark, Javianne Oliver, Destiny Smith-Barnett, and Twanisha Terry —among others.
In fact, Thompson-Herah will start in heat one of the 100m against Thomas, Hobbs, and Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago.
Briana Williams has been having a productive season thus far which includes four personal bests in the 60m and her second-fastest time ever for the 200m, and the 20-year-old hopes to continue testing her fitness in preparation for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, later this summer.
Williams will race in heat two on Saturday against Smith-Barnett, Oliver, Clark, Daniels, and Tee Tee Terry.
Meanwhile, the Elite men’s 100m field at the 2022 USATF Golden Games is loaded with international flavor, with Japan’s Yuki Koike, Frenchman Mouhamadou Fall, and Aaron Brown of Canada lining up to face off with the Americans.
NCAA star Micah Williams of Oregon, veterans Mike Rodgers and Isaiah Young, as well as Brandon Carnes, Cravont Charleston, and Kyree King, are among the U.S. starters.
