Jamaica’s Thompson-Hera to race in Birmingham

Elaine Thompson-Hera, Jamaica’s five-time Olympic gold medalist is set to participate in 60m at Muller indoor Grand Prix, A world athletics tour Gold meeting that will be held at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Saturday 19 February.

“I’m so excited to race in Birmingham to start my 2022 campaign,” said Thompson.
“I have enjoyed competing in the UK over the years and there is always a special atmosphere at this venue. I ran my personal best at this arena in 2017, so competing here means a lot to me.
“This year is a huge one. I have big goals for the World Athletics Championships later this summer, but first I’d like to give fans something to cheer about in Birmingham.”

Elaine Thompson-Hera of Jamaica, celebrates as she wins the women’s 100-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Champion in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m in Tokyo, Thompson-Hera is the Jamaican record-holder and second-fastest woman of all time over 100m (10.54) and 200m (21.53).
Her incredible CV also includes an Olympic silver, in addition to a World Championships relay title and 200m silver in 2015. A World Indoor Championships bronze medalist over 60m.
she has a personal best of 6.98.
Among other athletics champions, is Britain’s two-time Olympic bronze medalist Daryll Neita, who also had a strong year in 2021. Last year she recorded lifetime best performances over 100m (10.93) and 200m (22.81) and finished eighth in the Olympic 100m final in Tokyo. Her 60m best is 7.21 from February 2021.

Photo/Courtesy

“I’ve matured a lot as an athlete over the last couple of years and my mindset has really developed,” she said. “In training, I would imagine having the top girls in the world next to me and now I’m racing against them, so I know I belong here.
“The last time I raced Elaine indoors was in Birmingham in 2017 when she won, and I was fifth. Although she remains faster than me, I have to believe that the gap has closed since then and that with the backing of our brilliant British supporters, I can be more competitive this time around.”

The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is the fifth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022. There are seven Gold level meetings across the series, starting with Karlsruhe on 28 January and culminating in Madrid on 2 March.
Other athletes set to compete in Birmingham include Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis, world indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway, Olympic 1500m silver medalist Laura Muir and Olympic 800m silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson.
60m Hurdles.
60 meters hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent to the first 60 meters including the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women’s and men’s world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Kallur) and 7.29 seconds (Grant Holloway), respectively.