KINGSTON—Emerging sprint star Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, says hard work has paid off allowing her to become the world’s leading sprinter following two recent 100 metre wins. Thompson announced herself to the world by speeding to victory in 10.97 seconds at the Jamaica Invitational on Saturday after clocking a world leading 10.92 seconds at the Utech Classics a few weeks ago.
“No, not easy. It’s been months and days of training, so it is the hard work that is paying off now. I started training late September,” said Thompson. “I train with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; she helps to motivate me a lot”. On Saturday, the 22-year-old Jamaican sprinter recovered from a slow start to lead Commonwealth Games champion Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and American star Allyson Felix at the half-way mark before pulling away for a comfortable win.
“I was feeling good, I know I could win so I just go out there to execute as best as I could. It wasn’t one of the best starts, but I just didn’t panic, I just went on and executed,” said Thompson who turns 23 next month. “I knew the names in the field were big, so I just didn’t try to get nervous. I just went out there and delivered.”
Thompson has credited her improvement to Stephen Francis, coach of MVP track club. She has now set her sights on a medal at the World Championship, which will be held at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, China, in August. “I see myself on that medal podium in Beijing,” said Thompson.
“All I need to do now is to put in a little more extra work and just do the things I normally do, nothing new, just some more work”.