Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah breaks 33-year-old Olympic record in women's 100 meters

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The late Florence Griffith Joyner's Olympic record in the women's 100 meters had held since the 1988 Seoul games, but as of Saturday it's no more. Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah edged Griffith Joyner's 33-year-old mark by a hundredth of a second, as she captured gold with a 10.61 mark.
Joyner Griffith's world record mark of 10.49, which some people consider controversial because of questions over whether it was wind assisted, still stands, however, meaning Thompson-Herah officially ran the second-fastest sprint of all time.
Thompson was joined on the podium by her fellow Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, who won silver and bronze, respectively. That gave the country — which has a rich track and field history — a clean sweep in the sport's most heralded event. The trio is expected to team up for the 4x100 relays. One would think they like their chances.
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A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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