Barbadian Olympic bronze medalist Obadele Thompson believes Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the fastest woman alive, must be considered favourite for100m gold in Tokyo but has warned against overlooking her compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah.
Fraser-Pryce will be on familiar ground, looking to make history, this time as the first woman to claim three gold medals in the event. She would also become only the second person to win three gold medals in the 100m, behind illustrious compatriot Usain Bolt who won three in a row.
Heading into the event, Fraser-Pryce certainly seems set to accomplish the feat. First off, there’s her record, in 8 major championships (Olympics/World Championships) finals the athlete has only failed to win the gold medal on two occasions. Then, there's also the fact that the athlete has two of the top five fastest times heading into the event this year. They include, of course, the fastest time run this year, 10.63, which is also the second-fastest ever run over the distance.
Despite that, however, Thompson insists he will be keeping a close eye on Thompson-Herah. Thompson-Herah is the reigning Olympic champion, having claimed the sprint double in 2016 and also beat Fraser-Pryce this month in Hungary where she ran her best time this season (10.71) and second fastest this year.
“Shelly has run tremendously this year with a 10.63, winning the Jamaica National trials and when we look at her record it’s unparalleled. Two Olympic golds, Olympic bronze, four World Championships, so she definitely to me would start as favourite,” Thompson told SportsMax.Tv’s InCaseYouMissedIT.
“Elaine with her recent victory and near personal best a couple of weeks ago cannot be overlooked. She is a double Olympic champion, she has not had the same success at the global level at World Championships since her victories in Rio but she’s an Olympic champion.”