by Howard Campbell
[KINGSTON, Jamaica] – Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, who finished seventh behind Florence Griffith-Joyner when the American sprinter set an Olympic record for the 100 meters in 1988, has described Elaine Thompson-Herah’s demolition of that 33 year-old standard, as phenomenal.
Thompson-Herah led a Jamaican sweep of the medals at the Tokyo Games Saturday with 10.61 seconds. That bettered the 10.62 Griffith-Joyner set in Seoul, South Korea.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, going for a third Olympic gold medal over the distance, took silver in 10.74 secs while Shericka Jackson took the bronze in 10.76 seconds.
“They were phenomenal. Three women running under 10.80 (seconds) is phenomenal and what makes it sweeter is they are all Jamaican. For Jamaicans to see this is great, especially going into independence,” said Cuthbert-Flynn, now a parliamentarian in Jamaica.
Thompson-Herah, 29, defended the title she won five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She got the better of arch-rival Fraser-Pryce who had set a Jamaican record for the 100 meters with 10.63 seconds at a local meet in June.
Many track and field pundits considered Griffith-Joyner’s longstanding record in danger after six runners went under 11 seconds going into the final.
Cuthbert-Flynn, who represented Jamaica at four Olympics, was one of them.
“I’ve always thought 10.50 seconds is achievable if the conditions are right and the athlete is in the right condition,” she said.
Griffith-Joyner, who died at age 38 in 1998, still holds the world record for 100 meters at 10.49 seconds. That was set at the US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis in July, 1988.
She also holds the world and Olympics record for 200 meters with 21.34 seconds.
Thompson-Herah is also defending Olympic champion for the 200 meters. She won the event in 21.78 seconds in Rio.
