Elaine Thompson-Herah and that most recognizable headband
Last summer, a year later, the Tokyo Olympics were held. At these games, many athletes drew attention to themselves and one of them is the sprinter from Jamaica, Elaine Thompson-Herah. The girl, recognizable by her black headband, won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The 29-year-old sprinter, originally from Manchester, Jamaica, is one of the best competitors in the history of athletics. Her early days in this sport did not indicate that she would become a big star in the “queen of sports”. She did not have any representative results and also not too much support from her parents. As a child, she received a list of groceries from her grandmother that she needed to buy, and then she would sprint to the store.
Thompson-Herah is currently the fastest active sprinter behind the legendary Florence Griffith Joyner. In both mentioned disciplines, she is on second place when it comes to the fastest achieved results. She has been an Olympic champion five times in her career so far. Like his compatriot and another athletics legend, Usain Bolt, she managed to be the Olympic champion in the 100 and 200m races twice in a row. First, she was the Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 in these disciplines, and then she defended the mentioned titles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. In Japan, she managed to win a gold medal in the 4x100m relay, so along with the aforementioned Bolt and Florence Griffith Joyner, she is the third sprinter to win three gold medals at one Olympic Games.
In addition to the five gold medals, she has won one silver medal from Rio de Janeiro which she also won in the 4x100m relay race. She won two medals at the world championships. In Beijing in 2015, she won gold in the 4x100m relay race while in the 200m race she won a silver medal. After the Games in Rio, she suffered an injury that prevented her from making results worthy of attention at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. In 2021, she also was the champion of Diamond League. She managed to achieve the same result in 2016 and 2017. Last year, in the selection of World Athletics by over 500 journalists, she was chosen as the best athlete when it comes to women's competition. She currently holds the Olympic record in the 100m race with 10.61 and set it at the aforementioned Games in Tokyo.
After the games in Tokyo, she set the national record of Jamaica at the rally in Eugene, which is also the Diamond League record and the result is 10.54. It is the second-fastest time in history, and only 0.05s weaker than the world record set by the Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 and the Seoul Olympics. She also holds the national record in the 200m race with a time of 21.53. She is currently married to former sprinter and coach Derron Herah, and in addition to athletics, her great loves are cooking and fashion.
