Elaine Thompson-Herah, the renowned Jamaican sprinter and two-time Olympic champion in the 100m and 200m events, has announced her withdrawal from the upcoming Paris Olympics due to an Achilles injury.
The 31-year-old athlete, who has secured five Olympic gold medals throughout her career, sustained the injury during the New York City Grand Prix on June 9th, where she had to be assisted off the track.
Thompson-Herah, the only sprinter besides Usain Bolt to achieve multiple Olympic titles in both the 100m and 200m, was preparing to defend her 100m crown after opting out of the Jamaica 200m trials. However, a “small tear on my Achilles tendon,” as described by Thompson-Herah on Instagram, has dashed her hopes of competing in her third Olympics.
“It’s a long road but I am willing to start over and keep working and to make a full recovery and resume my track career,” Thompson-Herah shared in her Instagram post. “I am hurt and devastated to be missing the Olympics this year but at the end of the day it’s sports and my health comes first.”
Jamaica has dominated the women’s 100m event at the Olympics, winning the gold medal in the last four editions.
Thompson-Herah’s Olympic journey includes winning gold in the 100m and 200m at Rio 2016, followed by successfully defending both titles in Tokyo in 2021. She added a fifth Olympic gold as part of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team in Tokyo.
The absence of Thompson-Herah, a dominant force in sprinting, will be keenly felt in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, where fans and competitors alike will miss witnessing her exceptional talent on the track