Elaine Thompson's bumpy 2023: Injury comeback, switching coaches among other untold stories

ATHLETICS Elaine Thompson's bumpy 2023: Injury comeback, switching coaches among other untold stories

Abigael Wafula 20:09 - 24.12.2023

Elaine Thompson's 2023 season has been nothing short of a testimony owing to the fact that it started quite slowly but she picked up herself along the way.

The fastest woman alive, Elaine Thompson-Herah kicked off her season on low gear but ended it on a high with a couple of wins.

The multiple Olympic champion was just coming out of a niggly Achilles injury setback and she had a hard time adjusting to the track. The season saw her run less and struggle to clock sub-11 but she finally managed to post some impressive times on the back end of the season.

The 2023 season was also life-changing for Thompson who managed to part ways with her former coach, Shanikie Osbourne earlier in November.

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1) Victories

Coming out of an injury and managing to compete with her rivals is surely a blessing for any athlete and Thompson is not an exception. She was off to a great start earlier this year in the 60m race.

She won the 60m race at the Queen's/Grace Jackson Track Meet and later proceeded to win the Karsten Warholm Invitation AL in Norway. The Jamaican then went ahead and finished second in the 200m race at the Tom Jones Memorial.

After a turbulent season, she ended her campaign with very impressive times. She clocked her first sub-11 performance to win the Gala dei Castelli and proceeded to also win the Diamond League Meeting in Brussels.

Thompson completed her track season with an impressive third-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting final.

2) Setbacks

Thompson’s major setback was not being able to compete in an individual event at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

She started off well in the heats and semifinal of the 100m during the Jamaican Championships but ended up finishing fifth in the final of the 100m.

The Jamaican also faced a major setback when she could not compete in the final of the women’s 4x100m women’s relay team. She was part of the team during the heats.

Her other setback was during the Diamond League Meeting in Zurich where she finished third in the 100m. Thompson also finished fifth in the 200m at the John Wolmer Track Meet.

3) Off-track success

The 31-year-old managed to make a major milestone to improve herself ahead of her title defense at the Olympic Games in Paris, France next year.

Thompson appointed Reynaldo Walcott as her new coach following her split from Osbourne back in November.

Walcott has also been coaching her compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce since the 2020 season and Thompson is surely on the right track of her career.

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