Marie-Josée Ta Lou and a pair of Jamaicans blazed through their 100-meter heats on Friday to announce to the world that even with Usain Bolt gone from the sprint scene, there’s plenty of speed to go around.
The look on sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou’s face said everything. “Wow! Wow!” she screamed, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape as she crossed the finish line first and looked over at the clock. A gold medal? No. But the opening day of track and field at the Olympics sure was a fast ride. Ta Lou and a pair of Jamaicans blazed through their 100-meter heats on Friday to announce to the world that even with Usain Bolt gone from the sprint scene, there’s plenty of speed to go around. “I’m in shock, actually,” Ta Lou said after running 10.78 to set a career best in what is shaping up as a fast track in Tokyo. “But I know I’m ready.” Reigning world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran her heat in 10.84 seconds. Her Jamaican rival, defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, finished in 10.82. Combined with Ta Lou’s run, those were the fifth, sixth and seventh-fastest times of the year. Seven of the 54 sprinters going through Round 1 hit a personal best. Switzerland’s national record got broken not once, but twice. “I mean, a lot of sprinters are dominating,” Thompson-Herah said. All that happened even though the field was missing this season’s third-fastest runner, Sha’Carri Richardson, who is back home in the United States following a doping ban. That was a topic nobody wanted to touch. “I don’t know how that’s going to help right now,” Nigerian runner Blessing Okagbare said. “Regardless of who’s here and who’s not here, we’re going to compete.” Five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, only one runner, Fraser-Pryce, cracked 11 seconds in the opening round.
