‘I almost gave up’

Double-double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson Herah’s first race in two months was not just the gauge that she needed to see where she was heading into the National Championships, but winning an important battle that she felt that she was on the verge of losing.

Thompson Herah finally began her 100m slate at the JAAA All Comers meet at Ashenheim Stadium on Saturday, clocking a modest 11.24-seconds for victory. It was a win that was significant in more ways than one.

Thompson Herah who landed the sprint double at the last two Olympic Games had not competed since April 14, and during that period she has not only had to manage her nagging Achilles problem but a combination of other injuries that have kept her from training.

“The Achilles is still there, but I picked up a shin splint, I picked up a knee injury and it shut down my entire body so that I could not do anything. If the Achilles was the only thing then I would have been out here limping (but running). But I had different challenges where I was just monitoring them. I thought it would have improved quickly,” Thompson Herah said. “That’s why I came out here to test. The past couple of months have been rough. Most days I wasn’t able to do anything. I’m just grateful that I was here in spikes. I have been bouncing between spikes and track shoes. To come out here and get a clean race, God is good.”

It is her faith, she said, that kept her from not calling it quits on the season. For Thompson Herah it is in a World Championship season that she finds herself being tested like never before. And it was a test that she felt that she was close to failing, frustrated that the work being put in was not being replicated in the results.

“I don’t know why a World Championship season always seems very challenging for me. I have not changed anything. I haven’t done anything wrong. It is like a test to see if I can do it or not. And this year it is testing me a lot, it tested me last year. I cried most mornings as I drove home in my car. Because I see that I am working hard and not getting the results that I want. And I was on the verge of giving up honestly,” Thompson Herah said. “But God spoke to me and said you cannot give up right now.”

Thompson Herah said that not experiencing any pain for the first time in two weeks has encouraged her to see where she is in the 100m. With two weeks to go to the national championships, times don’t matter to her. All she wants is to secure a spot on the team to give herself a chance at another World Championships.

“I’m going there for the top three. I’m not looking at fast times or anything. I just want to get to the World Championships and take it from there,” Thompson said.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com