Thompson-Herah beats Asher-Smith in emphatic Diamond League win
Olympic 100m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah proved she is still the one to beat with an emphatic Diamond League win over a clutch of rivals, including Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, in Eugene on Saturday.
The Jamaican stormed through the final 50m to win in 10.79.
Asher-Smith got off to the sharpest start but was overhauled, coming fourth in a season-best time of 10.98 seconds.
Elsewhere, Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m while fellow Briton Matt Hudson-Smith set a new national 400m record.
Hodgkinson continued her impressive start to the season as she surged to 800m victory in a world-leading time of one minute 57.72 seconds.
American Athing Mu, who beat Hodgkinson to Olympic gold last summer, withdrew from the event earlier in the week, denying the crowd a comparison between the event’s two standout stars.
Hodgkinson’s compatriot Jemma Reekie finished down in eighth.
US-based Hudson-Smith made the most of a reprieve after an apparent false start to break Iwan Thomas’ 25-year-old 400m British record.
Hudson-Smith’s time of 44.35 seconds in third is an improvement of one hundredth of a second on Thomas’ 1997 mark.
Asher-Smith’s time was an improvement on her 11.11-second win in Birmingham last weekend
However, she and the rest were all left behind by the winner’s ominous statement of intent for the season.
Thompson-Herah, who defended a 100m-200m Olympic sprint double in Tokyo last summer, has been hampered by Achilles tendon and shoulder injuries this season, but moved up through the gears superbly to carve through the field in the second half of the race.
American Sha’Carri Richardson, who missed Tokyo after testing positive for cannabis, was second in 10.92 seconds, just ahead of Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson.
Her victory came at the track where she ran 10.54 – the second-fastest time in history – last year and the venue for the World Championships in July.
“It got me ready for my championship in Jamaica next month,” said Thompson-Herah. “I’m happy to see where I’m at. The result is good.”
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who was the 100m silver medallist behind Thompson-Herah in Tokyo, won the 200m in 22.41. –BBC
