Records are there to be broken, but the 100m women’s sprint record has stood for over three decades as Olympians around the world have strained to beat the time set by US legend Florence Griffith Joyner in the flagship track and field event.
But the Tokyo Olympics has delivered, and one of the most sensational Olympics 2020 highlights hit the screens on Saturday when a new trailblazer smashed Flo Jo’s record. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah beat the record by 0.01 of a second, flying through the tape with the clock at 10.61. She could have been even faster but, knowing that she had won, Thompson-Herah, raised her arm in triumph over the last six strides of the race and took her foot slightly off the gas.
It was an explosive performance by a true world star, and SBOTOP Olympics fans can expect much more from the Jamaican. Flo Jo’s achievement in Indiana 1988 has been untouched for so long. But in a blaze of glory Thompson-Herah defended her 2016 title in an electric race in which six runners broke 11 seconds, and the three medal winners all registered times of under 10.67. It was a one, two, three for Jamaica as Shelly-Ann Frase-Pryce, the 2008 and 2012 gold medal winner, and Shericka Jackson powered through alongside, well almost, Thompson-Herah.
Among fans and pundits’ Olympics 2020 predictions, another gold medal for Thompson-Herah was up there, but she did it in some style. And there was high drama too in the Men’s 100m final on Sunday when Italian outsider Marcell Jacobs took the gold medal, crossing the line in 9.8 seconds, to take the title of ‘fastest man on the planet’ away from the retired Usain Bolt. Jacob’s perfect race was good enough to blow away the favourites Andre DeGrasse and Fred Kerley and to make it a great summer of sport for his country after Italy football team won Euro 2020.
Yulimar jumps for joy
Triple jump star Yulimar Rojas smashed the Olympic record and became the first athlete at the Tokyo Olympic Games to break a world record too, when she completed the triple jump, covering a distance of 15.67 metres to take gold. The Venezuelan star picked up the triple jump silver medal in Rio de Janeiro and this time around the 25-year-old beat the previous record, set by Inessa Kravets in 1995, by a full 17 centimetres. Having won the world titles in 2017 and 2019 Rojas was delighted to add Olympic Gold, saying: “I can’t describe this feeling and this moment. Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record and a world record, wow, it’s a fantastic night.”
She’s a national hero in Venezuela and a mural depicting Roja, leaping over Angel Falls, has been painted near her home in Caracas.
Another world record was broken in the weigh-lifting arena when China’s Shi Zhiyong broke his own record to win the men’s 73kg event and collect a second successive Olympic gold medal. The powerhouse lifted a total of 364kg to beat his own world record by a kilogram, beating Venezuela’s Julio Ruben Mayora Pernia into silver, while Indonesian lifter Rahmat Erwin Abdullah picked up the bronze.
Aussie Emma makes a splash
The Australian women’s swimming team set a new record in the 4 x100m freestyle relay last week, completing the eight lengths of the pool in an astonishing three minutes and 29.69 seconds at an average speed of almost two metres a second, and taking 36 milliseconds off the previous world record. And that was one of four gold medals won by Emma McKeon, which beats the haul of three won by another Aussie legend of the pool, Ian Thorpe.
With gold medals in the 4×100 freestyle, the 50m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay, 100m freestyle and bronze in the 100m butterfly, the 4x200m freestyle and the 4x100m mixed medley, this seven medal collection is one of the biggest and best performances of the Tokyo games. With 11 Olympic medals in total, she has more than any other Australian in history, now two ahead of Thorpe’s total of nine. Leisel Jones, regarded as one of the best breaststroke swimmers of all time, also has nine medals and she made a tribute to McKeown, saying: “That shows just how good she is; she is so consistent and unassuming. She flies under the radar and is one of the hardest workers in the room. It’s so good to see her getting the medals she deserves.”
So with records falling on track, in the gym and in the pool it has been a great tournament; and it’s not over yet. There’s still plenty of action to come at the Tokyo Olympics with men’s and women’s football and the basketball tournaments to conclude, as well as the climax of the cycling events.
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