Jamaican Women Sweep 100 Dash, Fraser Takes Gold
BEIJING — Shelly-Ann Fraser completed a gold-medal Jamaican sweep of the 100-meter dashes at the Olympics today, winning the women's race in 10.78 seconds. Teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart tied for second.
David Guttenfelder/AP
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser celebrates winning the gold in the women's 100-meter final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics today.
Fraser's victory came a day after Usain Bolt gave Jamaica the men's title in world-record time.
As extensive a tradition of stellar sprinting as Jamaica has, the Caribbean island of about 2.8 million people never had won an Olympic gold in the 100 until this weekend.
Fraser won easily, punching the air as she crossed the finish line. Like Bolt, she is 21 years old.
The scoreboard flashed "Photo-Finish" for a couple of minutes before finally showing that Simpson and Stewart were both timed in 10.98 — and were both credited with finishing second.
Lauryn Williams and Muna Lee of America were fourth and fifth.
