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Tokyo Olympic gold medallists Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jacob Ingebrigtsen, and Karsten Warholm are just a few notable names featured to be competing Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland at the Athletissma meeting.
Elaine Thompson-Herah
Thompson-Herah has garnered much attention for running the fastest 100m performance since Florence Griffth-Joyner in 1988. Thompson-Herah ran a 10.54-second performance last weekend. Griffith-Joyner’s 10.49 is the current world record. It now appears to be under threat from Thompson-Herah. The 29-year-old Jamaican is a five-time Olympic gold medallist and is the national record holder over the 100m dash. She holds three other national records. Expect her to run a fast time, parlaying her Olympic fitness into another world-class sprint. Her 10.54 was set in Eugene, Oregon at the latest Diamond League meet at Hayward Field.
Not bad for a diamond league season 100m opener. New PB, NR, DLR second fastest time ever. Thank you all so much for the love and support. Continuous improvement is the order of the day. 😘 #Hiswill #HisGlory #HistoryBooks #Faith#Fearless pic.twitter.com/MAWniHKgKh
— Elaine Thompson Herah (@FastElaine) August 21, 2021
She defended her Rio Olympic gold medal in Tokyo this summer with a dominating 10.71 performance. She also happened to defend her Rio 200m gold with a 21.53 clocking in Tokyo. Thompson-Herah will be up against Shelly Ann-Fraser-Price and Shericka Jackson, two other Jamaicans who engineered the island’s medal sweep in Tokyo.
Karsten Warholm
Karsten Warholm of Norway will be competing in the 400m – the flat kind. He earned the gold medal in the 400m hurdles in Tokyo. His personal best is 44.87, while his best over the hurdles isn’t much slower at 45.94, which is the new world record. The performance is an outlier and in the rare 1300-plus point rating category in terms of quality at 1341. The world is interested to see what the 25-year-old can do without hurdles in the way.
His 300m, 300m hurdles, and 400m runs are also national records or national bests. His flat speed over the 100m and 200m are 10.52 and 21.09 from five years ago. He may have a legitimate chance at clocking world-class times over the shorter distances should he give them a go – he is an intriguing athlete to be sure.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Fellow Norweigan Jakob Ingebrigtsen at age 20 is an Olympic gold medallist.
His best in the 1500m distance is 3:28.32, which he ran on his way to the Tokyo Olympic gold this summer. The performance is also an area and national record. He currently holds eight area or national records in both the outdoor and indoor tracks. His 5000m best is just about as good at 12:48.45.
Older brother Filip is also toeing the line, he owns a best of 7:34.00.
There's those Ingebrigtsens with Freddie Mercury on lead… Some family! #EuropeanChampionship2018 #Ingebrigtsen pic.twitter.com/ChF2bbZNfK
— Col Patterson (@ColPmusic) August 11, 2018
Ingebrigtsen will be racing in the 3000m distance. His best over the distance was run last year and is a strong 7:27.05. Canada’s national record holder in the 5000m and Olympic silver medallist Mo Ahmed is toeing the line. Ahmed’s 5000m best is 12:47.20. Ahmed set his best in the 3000m, also a national record four years ago at 7:40.49. Based on his 5000m time, expect the 30-year-old to challenge for the win and run sub 7:30, improving on his own national record. One of six of which he currently possesses.
However, neither athlete is assured of a win Thursday, as the field is stacked with several other big names including Australian Stewart McSweyn (7:28.02), Jacob Krop of Kenya (7:30.07), and Muktar Edris of Ethiopia (7:30.96). A total of 12 competitors have run plus or minus a couple of seconds within 7:30.
For the full program schedule, click here>>