RELAY FEVER!
J’cans ready for World Relays assault
REIGNING OLYMPIC sprint double champion Elaine Thompson says she is excited ahead of her IAAF World Relays debut in The Bahamas, where she’s hoping to lead Jamaica’s defence of the women’s 4x100m title.
The two-day championships is set to begin here today.
Thompson missed the first two stagings of the championships in 2014 and 2015 due to personal reasons despite initially being selected for both teams.
However, Thompson, who, last year, established herself as the leading female sprinter on the planet, says he is eager to get going at the event and is looking forward to a strong showing.
“I am super excited,” said Thompson. “I have been selected for the third time for the World Relays and this is my first time going and so I am really excited and looking forward to it.’
The Jamaican women’s team will be without veterans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown for the championships, but despite this, Thompson believes they have a very talented team that will do well in The Bahamas.
ANTICIPATING A WIN
“Despite the fact that two of our main athletes are not on the team, I believe that once we can take that baton safely around, then we can definitely take home that gold medal,” she said.
“They (Fraser-Pryce and Campbell-Brown) are my role models and for me to be a trendsetter now, I am just going to keep pushing so that we can take home the gold for Jamaica,” Thompson said.
Along with Thompson, the other members of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team are Simone Facey, Natasha Morrison, Christania Williams and Sashalee Forbes.
Facey is the only returning member of Jamaica’s team, which finished first in a time of 41.14 seconds in The Bahamas two
years ago.
Defending the 2015 victory will not be easy for the Jamaicans as strong competition is expected from the rebuilt United States team. It’s why there will have to be careful selection of the legs for each runners.
Thompson said that she is not sure which one of the legs she will be competing in at the championships, but that she will be “more than happy” to run any of the legs.
“I am not sure which leg I will be running, but any leg I am selected for, I will take it on,” the Manchester-born sprinter said.
The 24-year-old Thompson opened her outdoor season in winning the women’s 100m in a wind-aided 10.75 seconds at the UTech Classic on April 15.
Thompson established her pedigree with gold-medal runs in the 100m and 200m at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.