by Larry EderWhen Elaine Thompson battled Dafne Schippers over the 200 meters in Beijing, Dafne Schippers got the upper hand and won in August 2015. A year, later, Elaine Thompson won the 100 meters and 200 meters going away. Her run in Doha showed her behind off the turn and then, Thompson destroyed the field over the 200 meters in Doha in May 2016.
Then came Eugene. Elaine Thompson was spoke of, by some of the cognescenti of the sport, as ‘unbeatable’. Any time that is said, someone comes along and kicks proverbial butt. Tori Bowie ran a nearly perfect 200 meters in Eugene, and Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers were beat by Ms. Bowie.
Elaine Thompson, photo by PhotoRun.net
After the USATF outdoors, Tori Bowie, quite fatigued after the 200 meters, 100 meters double, made it quite clear that she would not double in London. The night before (June 24), it became clear that Elaine Thompson, by opting out of the 200 meters at the JAA, would not be elgible for London. On Sunday morning, June 25, I was on BBC radio with BBC Jamaica correspondent Kayon Rayner, who acknowledged, that without Elaine, probably no Jamaican women over 200 meters that would impress in August 2017.
Here is our interivew with Elaine. I got a few questions in and Elaine, as always, is charming and says just what she wants to say. While this may be relatively new to Ms. Thompson, Elaine says nothing that she does not want to say.
She will be fun to watch in London over 100 meters. In Paris, her 10.91 was, well, about 80 percent of what this fine sprinter can do.
