Jamaican Women Sweep 100 Dash, Fraser Takes Gold
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
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.
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.
