Bromell bounces back to win 100m at Gateshead Diamond League
US sprinter Trayvon Bromell won the men’s 100m at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead on Tuesday as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah took the honours in the women’s 200m.
Just 10 days from the start of the Tokyo Games, Bromell – the fastest man in the world this year – won in 9.98 seconds, with Britain’s Chijindu Ujah second in 10.10sec at the Diamond League event.
It was welcome a return to form for Bromell, 26, who has a fastest time of 9.77sec in 2021 but trailed home in fifth place at the Monaco Diamond League meeting on Friday.
Canadian Andre De Grasse, who won 100m bronze and 200m silver at the Rio Games, was fourth.
“I’ll take that win and I really want to get back into training, get my body under wraps, recover and get ready for Tokyo,” said Bromell. “I want to be healthy and I’m blessed for that.”
Jamaica’s Thompson-Herah, who won gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the 2016 Olympics, triumphed in the 200m in a time of 22.43sec, with British world champion Dina Asher-Smith absent due to a tight hamstring.
“It helps me to build my confidence to get that win on the board,” said Thompson-Herah, 29. “It may not be my fastest time but I’m still pleased with that.”
“Tokyo will be my second Olympics and I’m pretty excited now,” she added. “I’ve been there and I know what it feels like and even though there are no crowds I will hope to put on a show.”
Dutch athlete Femke Bol won the women’s 400m hurdles in 53.24sec.
The Gateshead event was without a host of stars but dozens of British athletes were competing before flying to Tokyo.
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British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson pitted her wits in the long jump against Germany’s world champion Malaika Mihambo but Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk emerged as the winner with a leap of 6.77 metres.
The heptathlon world champion ruptured the Achilles tendon in her jumping leg in December and has negotiated a gruelling path back to fitness since, though she believes she is fit for the Olympics.