Yellow and green. Sunday July 17, the association of colors was omnipresent on the track and around the Hayward-Field stadium. Firstly because it represents the traditional colors of the University of Oregon, where the 2022 World Athletics Championships are organized on its campus. And also because the yellow and the green are, with black, the colors of Jamaica, celebrating in the women’s 100 meter event.
In Eugene (Oregon), on the soil of their American rivals, the sprinters from the Caribbean island responded to the sprinters made in the USA, who had achieved a men’s hat-trick the day before over the same distance. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah thus succeed, in order and at twenty-four hour intervals, Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell.
At 35, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her tenth world gold medal, with a time of 10.67 seconds. She is now a five-time world champion in the 100 meters. The prize list of “Mommy Rocket” (“Rocket Mom”) is even more impressive, since you have to add three Olympic gold medals and four Olympic silver medals. Its longevity is just as important: it reigns over the world sprint since the Beijing Games in 2008, where it had already been crowned, for the first time, on the straight line.
Revenge
The exuberant sprinter took her revenge on Elaine Thompson-Herah, who had achieved the Olympic double 100 meters-200 meters in 2021 in Japan. At 30, the second performer of all time (10.54 seconds in 2021) and five-time Olympic champion finished in third place, in 10.81 seconds.
The silver medal went to Shericka Jackson, a specialist in the 400 meters and two-time world champion in the 4 × 400 meters relay, who bettered her personal best in 10.73 seconds. The latter, on the other hand, could dominate her two eldest in the 200 meters, an event where she has been, since June 26, the third fastest woman in history thanks to a stopwatch of 21.55 seconds.
The most awaited final of these Worlds, the women’s 100 meters has kept all its promises. The competition and the high level of the women’s sprint relegated the men’s sprint to the background. “The women’s event has really been the queen event since the retirement of Usain Boltas Jamaican Juliet Cuthbert, former double world vice-champion in the 100 meters and 200 meters, reminds us. Watching the women last year at the Olympics, we saw how well they performed. It’s the race to follow, because all the contenders are very close to each other. »
“Shelly-Ann is an example”
Including the Jamaicans, there were thirteen athletes under the 10.90 second mark this year. The world first three were the only ones to run below 10.80 seconds. Among them, and before achieving the same time in the final, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce had already lowered the clock to 10.67 seconds twice.
In Eugene, the Jamaican supporters were numerous and demonstrative. Flags, jackets, tracksuits and T-shirts from a fashionable outfitter with a perfectly fitting slogan, “forever faster” (always faster). One of them, Erica Daily, was even hoping for more than a hat-trick a few hours before the final: “Tonight, we hope to be first, second, third and fourth! » Unfortunately, the young Kemba Nelson (22) did not make it to the semi-finals.
Regardless, the Caribbean fan is proud of her representatives: “Shelly-Ann is well over 30. Most sprinters stop around this age. She is an example and shows women that it is still possible to be successful. »
Liaison officer with the Jamaican Athletics Federation, Dennis Gordon did not hide his admiration for his sprinters: “They are exceptional. We are privileged as a small nation to produce athletes of this quality. »
“Our sprinters are less present than during the twelve years when Bolt dominated the Americans. But we are slowly rebuilding., he continues. Young Oblique Seville (21) finished 4e in 9.97 seconds, at the foot of the podium, Saturday, during the men’s 100 meters.
The world record still stands
Fraser-Pryce, Thompson-Herah and Jackson also arouse admiration outside the Jamaican borders. The New Zealand semi-finalist in the 100 meters, Edward Osei-Nketia, met in the bays of the stadium in this jamaican daymarveled before the final: “The Jamaicans, especially Fraser-Pryce and Thompson, have been excellent for years and years. They are super fast and they pull each other up. Maybe we will see a world record broken tonight?…”
Despite the emulation of this fierce competition and an ultra-fast final, the world record of the American Florence Griffith-Joyner did not fall. On July 16, 1988, in Indianapolis, the controversial sprinter stunned the world by running in 10.49 seconds. On the famously fast track at Hayward-Field Stadium and with the addition of new shoe and spike technology, this performance seemed within reach of sprint queens.
Juliet Cuthbert firmly believes in it: “They are all capable of running in 10.60 seconds or 10.50 seconds. Before, we thought that this record was unattainable. At one point, we thought that Merlene [Ottey, 14 médailles mondiales en sprint] was able with a favorable windshe analyzes. With their recent performances, it becomes accessible to Thompson and Fraser-Pryce…”
In June, the latter assumed its ambition: “I really believe I can run faster. That’s what really motivates me.”she told the World. To permanently replace Usain Bolt in the hearts of Jamaicans and fans, the world champion knows what she has to do.