In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Jamaica held track and field trials, and the men's 100m final was won by Kishane Thompson, the 22-year-old who ran 9.77 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year and the ninth fastest in history. However, in an interview after the race, he said that he should be able to run faster during the Olympics by following his coach's instructions.
Kishane Thompson ran 9.82 seconds in the first qualifying round, and this time he set a personal best of 9.77 seconds, but a look back at the video shows that he slowed down significantly before crossing the line.
The current men's 100m world record holder is Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who ran 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Championships, and no other athlete has yet to challenge him.
Kishane Thompson's record places him in the all-time top 10, tied with African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala for ninth, and Jamaica's fourth-fastest player in all time, behind Usain Bolt, Blake and Powell.
In an interview after the race, Kishane Thompson said she could have run faster: "The coach told me to sprint at full speed in the first 60 meters and then slow down. Because I only had to finish second or third to qualify, tonight's result didn't prove anything, I just ran 60m or 70m and saw how it went."
His victory means that he will have his first Olympic race in Paris. The Jamaican star, who has not won any major medals before, believes he still has a lot of room for improvement: "It's a bit new to me, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it."
Kishane Thompson is also the fastest time in the world in the past two years, and American Fred Kerley also ran 9.77 seconds on June 24, 2022.
Counting back the previous record, 9.76 seconds, almost all of which were set before 2015, Kishane Thompson could make a name for himself at the Paris Olympics and become another Jamaican sprinter.