Elaine Thompson-Herah
Jamaica
Athletics
Overall Ranks
#5 among Track & Field Athletes
#2 among Female Track & Field Athletes
#2 among Jamaican Olympians
#1 among Female Jamaican Olympians
Olympic Results
2016
100m - Gold
200m - Gold
4x100m Relay - Silver
2020
100m - Gold
200m - Gold
4x100m Relay - Gold
Total
Events - 6
Gold - 5
Silver - 1
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson was born on June 28, 1992 in Manchester, Jamaica, and sprinted while she was in high school, but never won a race. Once she was in college and had a professional coach, she started improving rapidly, and by 2015, she placed second in the 200m at the World Championships, and followed it up by making the Olympic team the next year.
She began her Olympic career in Rio with the 100m, where teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was the 2-time defending world and Olympic champion, but was battling injuries. Thompson won both of her heats to advance to the final, then took an early lead in the final and never gave it up, pulling away at the end to finish 0.12 seconds ahead of Tori Bowie of the USA and take the gold medal.
A few days later was the final of the 200m, where Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers was the favorite, with Thompson and Bowie expected to challenge for medals as well. Schippers had the fastest time in the semis, but Thompson again started quickly in the final, with Bowie close behind, but Schippers made a push toward the end of the curve to move into second. Once they hit the straightaway, Thompson started pulling away, and ended up winning by 0.1 seconds, becoming the first woman in 28 years to win both sprint golds.
She finished up in Rio with the 4x100m relay, which was expected to be a showdown between Jamaica and the USA. The US took the lead of the first curve, and Thompson ran the second leg, trying to chase down Allyson Felix, but couldn't quite make up the gap. English Gardner of the US pulled away on the last curve, and Fraser-Pryce didn't have a chance to make it up on the homestretch, coming up 0.35 seconds short of the gold medal, but still winning the silver.
She spent the next several years battling a recurring Achilles injury, but was healthy enough to make the Olympic team in 2021, thankfully gaining a little extra recovery time due to the postponement of the Tokyo games. She again qualified for the same 3 events. She was also married during that time, and started using the hyphenated surname Thompson-Herah.
She again started with the 100m, where she had lost to Fraser-Pryce in the Olympic trials, and both won both of their races to reach the final easily. In the final, the two started out almost even, but Thompson-Herah was able to maintain her speed a little longer, and ended up winning the gold medal by 0.13 seconds over her teammate, while posting the second-fastest time in history.
In the 200m, Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain was the defending world champion, but she was hurt in the 100m semifinals and withdrew from the 200m. That made Thompson-Herah, the defending Olympic champ, the favorite, and she lived up to it in the final, where she obliterated the entire field, winning by 0.28 seconds in the second-fastest time ever. With that win, she became the first woman ever to win both sprint events twice in a row, and only the second runner ever to do it, after Usain Bolt.
She finished up again with the 4x100m relay, where the Jamaicans had all 3 medalists from the 100m and were expected to win easily. Thompson-Herah ran the second leg again, and the USA remained almost even with Jamaica all the way through 300m, but they had a bad handoff at that point, and Jamaica was finally able to get some breathing room to cruise to victory, which made Thompson-Herah the first woman in 33 years to win the sprint triple at the Olympics.
After a strong 2023, she injured her Achilles in June 2024 and was forced to miss the Olympics that year. She took off the entire year 2025, and has recently returned to racing, breaking 11 seconds in a 100m race in April of this year, and she has her eye on a return to the Olympics in 2028. With or without a triumphant return, she has already proven herself to be one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
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