Rampaging Thompson-Herah wins Paris Diamond League 100m

 

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah set a meet record time of 10.72 seconds to win the 100m at the Paris Diamond League but Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 1988 world record still eludes her.

Jamaica’s Thompson-Herah was hoping to challenge the 33-year-old mark after running the second fastest 100m of all time last weekend in 10.54.

“The world record is a short-term goal,” said Thompson-Herah.

Compatriot Shericka Jackson was second and GB’s Dina Asher-Smith third.

“I am a double Olympic champion, I’m delighted with my performance,” said Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m/200m double in Tokyo after doing the same at the Rio Games in 2016.

“I have never been this fast. I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished in 2021.”

She also clocked 10.64 in Lausanne on Thursday behind fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s time of 10.60 – the third fastest time of all time. Fraser-Pryce did not compete in Paris because of fatigue.

Asher-Smith clocked 11.06 in third, while fellow Briton Daryll Neita, who made the Olympic final in Tokyo, ran 11.12.

read alsoElaine Thompson-Herah reclaims Olympic 100m gold in 10.61sec

Elsewhere, Olympic champion Armand Duplantis won the pole vault with a clearance of 6.01m.

Fred Kerley, the 100m silver medallist in Tokyo, beat fellow American Kenny Bednarek in the men’s 200m.

Morocco’s Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali – the first non-Kenyan since 1980 to win Olympic gold in the event – fell at the first hurdle and needed treatment trackside.

Benjamin Kigen won the race with a world-leading time of 8:07.12.