Athletics – Fraser-Pryce rates Rio bronze ‘greatest medal’

America Tori Bowie took silver in 10.83 while Fraser-Pryce, running with an injury, edged out Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou by seven thousandths of a second.

Jamaica won the English-speaking Caribbean’s first medals at the Olympic Games in Rio last night – gold and bronze – in a highly-anticipated women’s 100m final.

Countryman Usain Bolt, favourite to win the men’s 100m, was quick to congratulate the pair on Twitter, lauding Fraser-Pryce “for fighting and showing the heart of champ”.

Yet, as they strained the last couple of meters to the finish line, the growing daylight between Thompson and Bowie was emblematic of how much Olympic sprinting has changed.

Thompson explained after the race that she did not know how to react when she crossed the line first. “When I crossed the line and glanced across to see I was clear, I didn’t know how to celebrate“. They both train with coach Stephen Francis out of the MVP Track and Field Club, which has played a big role in helping Jamaica expand its dominance in track over the years. “I can’t imagine what is happening there right now”.

Surgery is “very possible” after the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce said, according to the Jamaica Gleaner, though she laughed off a question seeking confirmation and further details after the press conference.

“When I went down, I thought, ‘Oh my God, that is it.’ I just got up and wanted to stick with the guys and stay strong”. I kept my head in the game.

She also captured a second silver when she finished second in the bang-bang finish of the 50-meter freestyle.

Only last month, she sped to an exciting 10.70 clocking to clinch the national title at the Jamaica trials in Kingston. “I’m on the podium with my training partner”. “I managed to dig deep”.

Teammate Philip said: “I’m not doing as well as I want to be doing, but I’m still at the Olympics and I’ve made a semi-final”. It would’ve given her one day’s worth of bragging rights over Usain Bolt, who has overshadowed her in nearly everything despite their dual dominance.

Still, she did come to Rio with the fastest time in the world this year.

“That’s why I was so emotional at the end, it nearly went”.

A thrilling night was rounded out with a nerve-jangling finish in the heptathlon, where Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam took gold by a slender 35 points from Britain’s defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill. Given the duo’s personal bests over 800m, that equated to Thiam getting around within 9.47sec of Ennis-Hill to claim victory. But Thiem was able to dig deep and secure a breakthrough triumph. “In the 1500m I gave everything I had and now it is gold”. American Jarrion Lawson almost passed Henderson but brushed his hand in the sand on his final attempt and the jump was marked at that shorter point.

But his celebrations were cut short after his hand brushed the sand as he landed in the pit, significantly shortening the distance recorded and meaning he finished outside of the medals.

Jeff Henderson of the United States overtook Luvo Manyonga of South Africa by one centimeter on his last jump to win the long jump in 27 feet, 6 inches. “That was a long jump”.