American Gabby Thomas stormed to a brilliant victory in the women’s Olympic 200m in Paris on Tuesday to clinch the first major title of her career.
Thomas clocked 21.83sec to win ahead of St. Lucia’s new 100m champion Julien Alfred, who timed 22.08sec. Thomas’ teammate Brittany Brown claimed bronze in 22.20sec.
Thomas, 27, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games three years ago, is the first American woman to win an Olympic short sprint title since childhood idol Allyson Felix won the 200m at the 2012 London Games.
Nigeria’s Favour Ofili finished sixth in the race after reaching the final following administrative lapses that led to her omission from the 100m race.
St. Lucia’s Alfred had been hoping to clinch an Olympic sprint double after her dazzling win in the 100m on Saturday.
But Thomas, the fastest woman in the world this year over this distance, was in no mood to let her date with destiny slip.
The Harvard-educated sprinter exploded out of the blocks and ran a superb bend to open up a sizeable lead coming into the home straight.
The American’s strength and finishing power never looked like waning as she powered over the line to claim a deserved gold.
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