Jamaica’s defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah added another stunning performance to a day which will live long in the memory, becoming the first woman to ever complete a golden 100m and 200m ‘double double’ at the Olympic Games.
Just three days after her successful 100m title defence, which was achieved with an Olympic record-breaking run of 10.61, the 29-year-old stormed to a second successive 200m title in 21.53 (0.8m/s) and is now the second-fastest woman in history over both distances.
Her 200m time improves the Jamaican record of 21.64 which had been set by Merlene Ottey in 1991 and only the USA’s world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner has ever gone quicker with her world and Olympic record of 21.34 set at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
In an incredible sprinting showpiece, 29-year-old Thompson-Herah powered away in the closing stages to get her fourth Olympic gold as Namibian teenager Christine Mboma came through to secure silver, improving the world U20 and African senior records with 21.81. Gabby Thomas, who had run 21.61 to win the US title, held on for bronze ahead of Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, with their respective times of 21.87 and 21.94 being the fastest ever for third and fourth place in any women’s 200m race.
“I really had to pull it out to win the 200m,” said Thompson-Herah, who has endured a series of injury struggles since achieving her first Olympic sprint double in Rio five years ago. “It’s a new PB and a national record. I am so, so happy.
“The ups and downs have been so many and to come here five years later and to win two events is just amazing.
“Honestly, I am so tired,” she added, after her sixth race in five days. “My legs just need some rest. I have had a rough week. I haven’t slept after the 100m final.”
SOURCE: WORLD ATHLETICS