In
the women section, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica won gold in 100M sprint with
10.71 seconds finish (under 10 has never been run by any women anywhere !);
Tori Bowie of US 10.83 and much expected Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica
coming third at 10.86 seconds.
By now, you would
have noticed the dominance of Jamaica in sprint. This month, i.e., 6th Aug is the
day of Independence for this island nation.
They can say with pride once again that the fastest Man and woman on
earth hail from their country. It is a
place which has produced Steve Bucknor, the Umpire, Cricketers - Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh, George Headley,
Michael Holding amongst other famous people from the island.
Jamaica is an
island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest
island of the Greater Antilles. The island, 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq
mi) in area, lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno
peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of
Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people died of disease,
and the Spanish imported African slaves as labourers. Named Santiago, it
remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain)
conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British colonial rule,
Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly
dependent on slaves imported from Africa. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen
Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state.
The island Nation
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom and in
1958, it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation
among the British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving
the federation in 1962 – that was on 6th August 1962.
Usain Bolt won
100-meter gold for the third straight Olympics, edging out Justin Gatlin with a
time of 9.81 seconds~ the meme is he had time enough to turn around, look where
others are, say cheese to photographers
even before crossing the finish line. As
expected, the entire nation of Jamaica was watching their biggest star chase
history. Celebrations began after his semifinal race and only got larger after
he earned the gold medal. The vaunted
Jamaican sprinting program added a new chapter on Saturday night, as a new
queen was crowned the fastest woman in the world.
Elaine Thompson, a
relatively unknown 24 year old from a small village in the island nation, blew
away the field in the 100 meter final, blistering to the finish in 10.71
seconds, just one one-one hundredth of a second off the national record she
tied a month ago. In taking the gold, Thompson unseated her training partner
and compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from the title of fastest woman.
Fraser-Pryce has suffered a toe injury for much of the past year and settled
for bronze. Tori Bowie became the 15th American woman to medal in the 100
meters, winning silver. No U.S. sprinter has claimed gold in 16 years. Thompson
won by a full 0.12 second over Bowie, a convincing victory in a race considered
by many to be wide open. The final was filled with several first-time
Olympians, including Thompson and Bowie. Dutch star Dafne Schippers, second
behind Fraser-Pryce at the 2015 World Championships, finished fifth in 10.90.
Thompson said:
"When I crossed the line and glanced across to see I was clear, I didn't
know how to celebrate." Fraser-Pryce said: "What I'm most happy about
is the 100m title is staying in Jamaica. I'm on the podium with my training
partner. I'm proud of Jamaica."
Can recall that in
200M finals at London Olympics 2012, Jamaica made a clean sweep ! - it was :
Rank Nation Athlete Timing
1 Jamaica Usain Bolt 19.32
2 Jamaica Yohan Blake 19.44
3 Jamaica Warren Weir 19.84
Intresting !!
With regards
– S. Sampathkumar
15th Aug 2016.
