“Pocket Rocket” has ignited the turbo again: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce sprinted to gold in Eugene. It is the Jamaican’s fifth world 100m title and her tenth overall. For Gina Lückenkemper, the semi-final was the end of the line.
Explosive start and staying power: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lived up to her nickname “Pocket Rocket” at Hayward Field Stadium and sprinted to victory in an inimitable manner. 10.67 seconds meant a world championship record for the Jamaican, who was just 1.52 m tall. 13 years ago in Berlin, the 35-year-old won the world title for the first time. In total, the Jamaican has now collected twelve World Championship medals, ten gold and two silver.
Behind Fraser-Pryce, silver went to Shericka Jackson (10.73). Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.73) won bronze, completing the all-Jamaican podium. In a memorable World Cup final, seven out of eight runners stayed under the magical eleven-second mark.
Lückenkemper-Aus in the semi-finals
Gina Lückenkemper cannot yet keep up with the world class. With 11.08 seconds, the German was eliminated in fourth place in her semi-final run. In the end, the 25-year-old was twelve hundredths short of the final. In the lead-up, the 2018 European Vice Champion ran 11.09 seconds after a weak start. The sprinter from SCC Berlin had already reached the World Cup semifinals four years ago. At that time in London she was the first German since Katrin Krabbe to sprint under eleven seconds (10.95), but then did not get past 11.16. After four mixed years, Lückenkemper stayed under eleven seconds for the first time at the German championships at the end of June.
11.08 is not what I was aiming for here, I definitely wanted more.
Krabbe won the last German medal in the 100 m sprint as world champion in Tokyo in 1991. The last time Melanie Paschke was in a World Cup final over 100 m was in 1997, when the Wattenscheider finished sixth.
False start and boos from the spectators
“Nevertheless, 11.08 seconds is a good performance and I finished thirteenth in the World Championship,” said Lückenkemper. “It was a bit wild today though.” Due to a false start including discussions by TyNia Gaither, the semi-finals of the Germans had dragged. After the disqualification of the sprinter from the Bahamas, the audience booed in the middle of the runners’ concentration phase. “I can understand the frustration, but that was just unfair to all the other athletes,” said Lückenkemper: “Going to the starting block three times to run once, that was heavy.”
The German did not let the anticipation of her second appearance at the World Cup be taken away. “Now the season is going well, I’m looking forward to that,” said Lückenkemper. The women’s 4×100 m heats are scheduled for next Saturday (07/23/2022, 2:40 a.m.). The final takes place on the last day of the World Championships in Eugene. “I do believe that we will have a decent team on the track and that we can conjure something up on the floor.”