Elaine Thompson-Herah became the first woman to win the historic ‘double-double’ in Olympic track and field fastest races this month.
Thompson-Herah won gold medals in both the 100-metre and the 200-metre races in Tokyo, winning her second set of medals in the two races for Jamaica, after she won the same contests at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Jamaican sprinter clinched the prestigious title of winning back-to-back gold medals in the contests after dominating the 200-metre sprint.
In doing so, she also got the second-fastest performance by a woman in the 200-metre sprint in Olympic history, and her time in the 100-metre sprint in Tokyo also setting an Olympic record.
So, who is Elaine-Thompson Herah?
Born and raised in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, Thompson-Herah struggled at the start of her sprinting career, even being left off her high school’s track team due to disciplinary reasons when she was still 19.
After high school, she was recruited to the University of Technology in Jamaica by Paul Francis, and with his coaching, her times improved steadily.
Her impressive times led to her entering national championships, and in 2014, she went on to represent Jamaica at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Her international breakthrough came in 2015, when she won the 200-metre race in the Jamaican National Championships, leading to her qualifying for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
At the World Championships, she won a silver medal, with her time of 21.66 seconds being faster than the previous championships record, yet it was still 0.03 seconds slower than Dafne Schippers, who won the contest for the Netherlands.
2016 would prove to be a fantastic year for her, winning gold medals in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints, clocking times of 10.71 seconds and 21.78 seconds respectively, becoming the first female Jamaican sprinter to win both contests at one Olympic Games.
She was in the relay team for the 4x200 metre World Relays in 2017 that won the gold medal, setting a competition and national record time of 1:29.04.
2021 was another sensational year for her, winning the women’s 100-metre final, clinching the gold medal with an Olympic record time of 10.61 seconds, making her the fastest woman alive.
While competing in the 200-metres, she equalled her personal best of 21.66 seconds in the semi-final, and she got a personal best of 21.53 seconds in the final, winning another gold medal.
Thompson-Herah impressed a great deal at this year’s Olympics, and she continues to be an inspiration to each and every athlete that struggled at the early stages of their careers.
Do you think she will win more gold medals in the future?
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