Tokyo (AFP) – Melissa Jefferson-Wooden became the first woman since Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 2013 to achieve the world sprint double after easing to victory in the 200 metres on Friday. The 24-year-old American timed 21.68sec in a clear victory, with Briton Amy Hunt an impressive second in 22.14sec and two-time defending champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica third in a time of 22.18sec. Jefferson-Wooden’s victory was the first by an American since Allyson Felix won the third of her titles.
The race was missing Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, who pulled out injured before the championships, and the silver medallist from Paris last year, Julien Alfred, who withdrew before the heats with a hamstring issue. Jefferson-Wooden, coached by the controversial former sprinter Dennis Mitchell, who served a ban for doping during his competitive career, handled the pressure of being the favorite brilliantly. Not even the disqualification of veteran Bahamian Anthonique Strachan for a false start distracted her.
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Jefferson-Wooden came off the bend into the finishing straight well ahead, and nobody looked like catching her. Jackson tried her best to cut the gap, but it was to no avail, and the 31-year-old was passed by the fast-finishing 23-year-old Hunt. As Jefferson-Wooden celebrated going from being a 100m Olympic bronze medallist last year to double world champion, Jackson flopped to the ground in disappointment.
Hunt, by contrast, ran back down the track into the friends and family area and burst into tears as she hugged her mother. Tears of another kind were in order for her older teammate Dina Asher-Smith, the 2019 world champion’s powers clearly on the wane as she could only finish fifth. Asher-Smith has been around for a while, but not as long as Marie-Josee Ta Lou Smith, a dual silver medallist way back in 2017. The redoubtable Ivorian never challenged for the medals, but appearing in her 13th individual global championship final was an achievement in itself for the 36-year-old.
© 2024 AFP
