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Athletics - Olympics: Day 8

Source: Fred Lee / Getty

At the Tokyo Olympics this week, Jamaican runner Elaine Thompson-Herah broke Florence Griffith Joyner’s Olympic record in the women’s 100 meters, which has been unbeatable for the past 33 years. She pointed at the scoreboard even before crossing the line in 10.61 seconds on Saturday, July 31 to defend her title and lead a Jamaican sweep of the gold, silver, and bronze  medals.

Her time was just .01 second  fast than Griffith Joyner, who set the old record of 10.62 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Thompson-Herah beat her top rival, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, by .13 seconds. Shericka Jackson  rounded out the top three, winning bronze in 10.76.

While Thompson-Herah wasn’t sure she  would be able to break 10.7 as she approached the finish, “I knew that I won,” she said after the race.

“The pointing, I don’t know what it means. To show that I was clear,” she said.

She also took to Twitter following her big win, sending out an inspiring message about never giving up on your dreams.

“Just a lil girl from BANANA GROUND who liked to run,” she wrote. “Believe In your dreams work hard and have faith in God…ETH.”

This marks the first Jamaican sweep of the medals since the women did the same at the 2008 Beijing Games, though their feat was somewhat overshadowed by the record-setting performance of Usain Bolt that same week.

Now, Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah are headed for a possible rematch in the 200, where Thompson-Herah is also the defending champion.

Congrats, Elaine!

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