Jamaica’s double-double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah turned up at the New York Grand Prix yesterday to the delight and curiosity of track fans. Just a week prior, she returned to competition for the first time this season in Oregon.
To the dismay of many, Thompson-Herah ended the race in last place of nine with a pedestrian 11.48secs.
Fans were still holding out hope when she arrived in New York, and many speculated that she might have been playing possum in Oregon and the New York Grand Prix would reveal the real story.
I watched Thompson-Herah as she warmed up for her race with block starts under her coach’s guidance, and she looked fine going through her practice.
On introduction to spectators, Thompson-Herah jogged down the track to a rousing welcome and took her position among other competitors in the blocks. The field was a strong one that included USA’s Aleia Hobbs and Gabby Thomas and Nigerian Favour Ofili – certainly no competitor she could not manage when she is in form.
The starter’s gun sent them off, and Thompson-Herah was with them after a decent start, but something was amiss. At the 40-meter mark where she usually propels from her drive phase, she wasn’t doing that and was soon passed by the field and slowed to the line. Frustrated, she pulled off her spikes and bent over for a while. She was carried from the track – not in a wheelchair – to the warm-up area where her team attended to her.
It then became clear that Thompson-Herah was not in good shape when she opened her season in Oregon, and New York might have been no different.
“I felt something uncomfortable as I began to push; I still tried to go, but it got worse,” she said.
To Germany She Went
Desperation situations call for desperate measures, so Thompson-Herah did what many questioned why so late; she flew off to Germany to see Hans Müller-Wohlfahrt, a world-renowned orthopedic doctor who has fixed the problems of numerous sporting stars across disciplines, including Usain Bolt and Linford Christie using homeopathic methods and acupuncture.
The question now is, will she be able to compete at the national trials to book a spot on the Jamaica team to Paris? And if she does, she would have a month to tweak things to make her a medal contender. Müller-Wohlfahrt is known for getting athletes ready in two weeks after serious injuries.
Thompson-Herah is listed to contest only the 100m at the Jamaica Trials, which means she cannot defend her 200m title in Paris. Based on her Olympic success after a rocky journey to Tokyo and the possible magic of Müller-Wohlfahrt for the upcoming Trials, it’s maybe too early to rule her out of medal contention in the shorter sprint if she makes the top three in Kingston.