Five-time Olympic gold medallist, Elaine Thompson-Herah has withdrawn from the Jamaica National Athletics Championships set to begin today due to injury.
With this development, the double-double Olympic champion [100m 2x, 200m 2x] will miss the opportunity to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
“Five-time Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah has withdrawn from the Jamaica National Championships and will be unable to defend her sprint titles at the 2024 Olympic Games due to injury,” a statement from her team – Andi Sports Management on Wednesday read.
“Mrs. Thompson-Herah extends her heartfelt thanks to her sponsors, fans, and well-wishers for the love and support showered upon her during this challenging time,” it added.
Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman alive won the 100m and 200m titles at both the 2016 Rio [10.71 seconds, 21.78 seconds] Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 [10.61 seconds,
21.53 seconds], and was hoping to become the first ever woman to win gold in the two sprint events for three consecutive Games.
But her dream got dashed having suffered an injury while competing at the New York Grand Prix this month [June]. She finished eighth and last in a time of 11.48 seconds.
According to reports, Thompson-Herah traveled to Germany soon after to receive treatment, but it has become evident that the severity of her injury will not permit her to return early enough to compete.