In the high-stakes world of track and field, where mere milliseconds determine the outcome of a race and the position of an athlete, there are only a handful of races that rival the intensity of the two powerhouse nations, Jamaica vs. the United States of America.
The rivalry between these two countries has been a long-standing one in both genders, especially in the 100m, as they go through vigorous training and push themselves to the best of their ability to vie for the top 3 coveted Olympics medals.
Both countries produce top-tier athletes who are closely watched when the Olympics arrives, due to its high competition that has become something more throughout the years. However, it is the USA that holds the current women’s 100m and 200m records, set by the fastest woman ever recorded, Florence Griffith Joyner (commonly known as Flo-Jo). She set unprecedented timings of 10.49 seconds for the 100m, and 21.34 seconds for the 200m.
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From its time of establishment in the Seoul Olympics 1988, these records have stood unparalleled by any runner, and she captured 3 Gold medals. Powerful athletes from her country such as Allyson Felix dominated for the following years, yet Jamaican sprinting later gained momentum with athletes such as Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The latter became known for her consistent performances and introduced new techniques too.
Despite Jamaica’s rise, American athletes such as such as Carmelita Jeter, Marion Jones etc. worked to uphold their country’s reputation of sprinting. With the passing of years, this rivalry has become a battle of national pride, not only individual achievement for the athletes themselves.
It is at the Olympics Games Beijing in 2008 that Jamaica established themselves clearly by dominating the women’s 100m. This was the first time in history that gold, silver and bronze was all secured by a single country in this event.
It has been very few countries who have been able to dominate an event as successfully as Jamaica, and in addition to this, 13 years later in the previously held Tokyo Olympics, the familiar names of Elaine Thompson Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson respectively, achieved this same feat too. This was an exceptionally fast run, with all 3 women running sub 10s and an outcome that brought immense pride to their motherland.
However, in 2024, there may be a change of events, because of the USA runner, Sha’Carri Richardson, the current world champion who recently beat Shericka Jackson to receive this title. She looks to end a 28 year-long dearth of a gold medal for the USA in the Olympics and retain her current title of the “world’s fastest woman”, even though she has never appeared in the Olympics thus far. On the other hand, this will also be her opportunity to make a strong comeback to the Olympics stage after being disqualified from the Tokyo games in 2020, for after winning the 100m trials, she tested positive for illegal substances.
Elaine Thompson-Herah had secured the 100m and 200m gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, but this year, she will be missing the Paris Olympics due to an Achilles injury. This leaves Richardson’s main competition Fraser-Pryce and Jackson. However, at the US athlete’s current performance ability, it seems that there is no current Jamaican athlete, despite their previous performances, who will be able to rival her, which enables her to add the Olympics title to her name.
This will make her one of the best track athletes the USA has ever had. As Richardson has proclaimed in her own words during her comeback story, “I’m not back, I’m better”, emphasizing how this year, it is her year and she is a force to be reckoned with.
Richardson has captured the attention of her global fans, stretching far and wide across the world, due to the anticipation of her victory. This adds immense pressure to her 3 races, because of the expectations placed upon her to be the winner. Yet, if she runs to the best of her ability on August 3rd, there is no doubt that in Paris 2024, the Olympics title will be hers.
Sprinting events truly fill the hearts of fans with nerves and anticipation, because of the swiftness of the events, the uncertainty of an outcome due to simply having a false start. In addition to this, these powerhouse athletes coming together to represent their countries in the 4×100 relays are not to be missed.
The track and field at the 2024 Olympics will commence from August 1st, Thursday, and then from Friday (August 2nd) and Saturday (August 3rd), Live from the State de France, and will be broadcasted live on ThePapare TV, Dialog ViU app and ThePapare.com.
