Thompson still searching for answers to London failure, ready to defend 100m Diamond League title

Andre Lowe, Sports Editor

BRUSSELS, Belgium:
Leading Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson says she is yet to figure out what went wrong for her during the 100m final at the recent World Championships in London, but underlined that she is looking forward to successfully defending her 100m Diamond race title.

Thompson has been the dominant female sprinter for the past couple years and hit the high-point of her career at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she won gold medals in the 100m and 200m.  

She was expected to claim her first World Championships gold in the 100m event in London but finished fifth in a time of 10.98 seconds.

The Jamaican, who will be looking to successfully defend her 100m Diamond Race trophy at the Brussels Diamond League tomorrow, said although she has repeatedly watched replays of her London 2017 letdown, she is no closer to identifying what caused the surprise disappointing performance.

"I have watched it over 1,000 times,” Thompson said, jokingly. “And I don’t know what went wrong. When I go home I will watch it some more and sit with my coach and discuss it.” Thompson said.

"When I go home I will definitely watch the replay again and see; sit down with my coach and discuss what happened for the entire season and what can be corrected for the rest of seasons to come.

The defeat in London was Thompson's second loss in 14 100m races this season.

Besides those, you would have to go back to July 2015 for her last defeat in the event.

Thompson says she is focusing on continuing her dominance and is looking forward to Friday's Diamond League competition.

"It feels good to be back in Brussels," said the sprinter, who arrived in Belgium early Thursday morning after a 12-hour flight delay in Venice with other members of the MVP Track Club group.

“Tomorrow will be my last race for the season, I am really excited and happy,” said Thompson.

“I am just focused on going out there and doing my best, it’s the last one and I will be giving it my all.”

Last year, Thompson ran 10.72 seconds here to secure the Diamond Trophy.