Thompson seeks Pan Am gold

by

Rachid Parchment - Assistant Sports Editor

August 07, 2019

Photo

Elaine Thompson of Jamaica finishes first and Vitoria Cristina Silva of Brazil finishes second in a women’s 100m heat during the athletics at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru yesterday.

Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, third from left, and Vitoria Cristina Silva of Brazil, fourth from left, start a women’s 100m heat yesterday.

Natasha Morrison of Jamaica prepares for the women’s 100m semis yesterday.

Lima, Peru:

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson is looking to add a Pan American Games gold medal to her resume when she explodes off the blocks in the 100m final this afternoon. However, she will need to overcome the frigid winter here to do that.

After clocking 11.36 seconds to win her heat in yesterday's semi-final, she is now obviously looking to win today, but also mindful of her fitness, with one eye on the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, next month. For her, this means not letting the temperature, which averaged 14 degrees Celsius yesterday, affect her body negatively.

"I'm satisfied with my semi-final performance," Thompson told STAR Sports after her race. "For the final, my aim is just to execute and stay injury-free, as the cold weather is always a concern in terms of muscle tightness once it drops below a certain temperature."

Thompson is joined by Natasha Morrison in the race as she placed second with a time of 11.59 seconds behind T&T's Michelle-Lee Ahye, who won in 11.37 seconds.

Jamaica will be looking to add more gold medals to the one discus star Fedrick Dacres mined yesterday, with Rasheed Dwyer down for action in the men's 100m final. Natoya Goule, who was in good spirits after her semi-final win yesterday, seeks glory in the women's 800m final, and Ashinia Miller and O'Dayne Richards will contest the men's shot put final.

Today's action for Jamaica

runs off at 3 p.m.

Jamaicans competing today:

Women's 100m hurdles semi-final

Megan Tapper 3 p.m.

Yanique Thompson 3:10 p.m.

Women's 400m semi-final

Shericka Jackson 3:20 p.m.

Anastasia Le-Roy 3:30 p.m.

Men's long jump final 3:35 p.m.

Adrian Riley

Tajae Gayle