Fastest woman alive Elaine Thompson-Herah will not defend her 200m title at Paris Olympics 2024

Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah will not be participating in the women’s 200m at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She will not be defending her 200m title at the upcoming quadrennial games, scheduled from July 26 to August 11.

Thompson-Herah, who is the second-fastest sprinter alive in the 200m after Shericka Jackson, has been listed to compete only in the women’s 100m race at the upcoming 2024 Jamaican Track and Field Olympic Trials, slated from June 27 to June 30. Her dreams of three consecutive gold medals in the 200m at the Olympic Games are now over.

The 31-year-old Jamaican sprinter collected her first gold medal in the 200m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she registered a time of 21.78s to collect the title. Thompson-Herah then went on to assert her dominance over the distance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she recorded another solid performance, clocking 21.53s to successfully defend her title.

Citius Mag reported the Jamaican sprinter's absence from the Olympic Trials on X (formerly Twitter). Elaine Thompson-Herah will subsequently miss the 200m at the Paris Olympics.

The women’s 200m - Round 1 at the Paris Olympics will be held on August 4, with the Repechage and Semi-finals scheduled for August 5. The finals of the women’s 200m is slated for August 6 at the Stade de France.

In 2024, Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman alive in the 100m, featured in two 100m races - the Prefontaine Classic and the USATF New York City Grand Prix, where she finished an underwhelming ninth.

However, what shocked the fans was she had to be carried off from the track as she seemingly sustained an Achilles injury during her appearance at the NYC Grand Prix.

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Elaine Thompson-Herah’s achievements at the Olympics

Elaine Thompson-Herah of Team Jamaica wins the Women's 100m Final on day eight of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 31, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Besides collecting two gold medals in the 200m event at consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics, Elaine Thompson-Herah is also a two-time gold medalist in the 100m. She won back-to-back titles over the distance at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, registering times of 10.71s and 10.61s.

In addition, Thompson-Herah has earned two medals, a gold and a silver respectively, as a member of the women’s 4x100m relay events in Tokyo and Rio.

At the Tokyo Olympics, the Jamaican team comprising Briana Williams, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson accomplished a national record time of 41.02s to take home the gold.