A new Jamaican champion makes her mark in Olympic 100 meters

The semi-final round took place 90 minutes before the final, and Ahye was the only TT runner to progress, with Semoy Hackett eliminated on the final hurdle.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was gracious after defeat.

Outpacing a stacked field by 12 hundredths of a second, Elaine Thompson from Jamaica won her first Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters, running 10.71. But Fraser-Pryce’s road to her third Olympics is not without struggle: She tested positive for a banned painkiller in 2010, and underwent a six-month suspension.

The gold and bronze performances were Jamaica’s first medals of Rio, a count that is expected to rise as the focus shifts from swimming to athletics over the coming week. “I just got up and wanted to stick with the guys and stay strong”.

“By far, I would say this is my best championship ever”, said Fraser-Pryce, who has battled a toe injury.

The most decorated Olympian in history took to the pool in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay for his final event, and a superlative display during his butterfly leg propelled a team that featured Nathan Adrian, Ryan Murphy and Cody Miller to gold. Injured in 2012, she took her 100m personal best from 11.41 to 11.17 in 2014 and then to 10.84 previous year.

Bolt, who knows more about winning when the stakes are highest, predicts the mental game will play as much a role as the physical in Saturday’s final.

Only two crew members remained from the boat that won gold in the London Olympics, and only one from Beijing four years earlier. She had to get serious about the sport.

She probably did. But what about that the part of being the USA women’s eight – a dynasty that stands out in team sports? “I knew how hard I worked, I knew the pain, I knew the sacrifice, I knew the tears, I knew everything”.

Who will be the fastest woman at the 2016 Summer Olympics? “My preparations have been going really well”, she said as she arrived in Brazil from her training base in Switzerland.

Thompson had a lot to learn about being a world-class pro too.

“I’ve been trying to pick the top three for the longest while”, Bolt said. “I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to be able to stand on the podium after having a year like this”. I’m happy Jamaica gets the gold medal.

The U.S.’s Tori Bowie snuck past Fraser-Pryce in the race’s final meters to win the silver medal in 10.81 seconds. And she finally listened.

“Usain is Usain, and he always has the spotlight because of what he has accomplished, so we can never take that away from him”, Fraser-Pryce said. “That was a long jump”.