On August 4, before the women's 200m preliminaries of the Paris Olympics, Jamaica's Jackson, ranked first in the world, suddenly withdrew and missed the semifinals. Before the women's 100m semifinals, Jamaica's Fraser was stopped outside the field due to a license issue and eventually withdrew. Coupled with the fact that two-time Olympic champion Thompson did not come to Paris due to an Achilles tendon injury, the once prosperous Jamaica women's sprint team withdrew from the Paris Olympics in a strange way.
In the Olympic women's 100-meter final, over the years, with the rise of famous athletes such as Jamaica flyers Fraser, Jackson and Thompson, the United States women's flyers have been suppressed to win the Olympic 100m, 200m and relay championships for many consecutive years. But at this Paris Olympics, the Jamaica sprint team encountered a strange oolong. Fraser, who ran 10.92 seconds in the heats, was second, but before the semi-finals, she posted on social media that she had been rejected by the organizing committee.
It turned out that Fraser considered the accommodation conditions in the Olympic Village, following the example of Richardson, a United States flyer, staying in a hotel outside the village and commuting by a vehicle equipped with an Olympic car pass. Before the women's 100m semi-finals, Fraser rode to the stadium in a car, but was stopped outside the entrance. In the video released by Frazier, she said helplessly: "I entered through this entrance yesterday, and today they changed the rules." ”
Also stopped outside the stadium was United States Richardson. But the United States, led by their coaches, quickly found other entrances and caught up with the warm-up before the semifinals. Fraser has not released any updates since then, but officials said that Fraser also entered the warm-up without any problems, and only announced his retirement before the game.
Saint Lucia's Alfred
With another Jamaica star Jackson previously announcing his retirement from the 100m to secure the 200m, Jamaica ended up with only rookie Clayton competing in the women's 100m final. But Saint Lucia's Alfred came out on top, winning Saint Lucia's first-ever Olympic gold medal in 10.72 seconds.
Coming to the women's 200m preliminaries, Jackson, who had previously announced his retirement from the 100m race to guarantee the 200m, suddenly announced his withdrawal from the 200m race before the race. The official word is that he injured his leg muscles in a pace run a month ago
Looking back at the Jamaica women's sprint team, Fraser won two gold medals in the women's 100m at the Beijing Olympics and the London Olympics, a bronze medal in the 100m at the Rio Olympics, and a silver medal in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics. Thompson won gold in the women's 100m and 200m at Rio and Tokyo, while Jackson helped Jamaica win gold in the 4x100m relay at the Tokyo Olympics. In the 16 years since 2008, Jamaica's sprint team has won 15 Olympic medals. Such a strong team, because of various oolongs and injuries, missed the final of the Paris Olympic Games, which can be called the biggest accident in the track and field field.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Chu Peng
Editor/Wang Fan