LONDON – Jamaica’s Olympic double champion Elaine Thompson leads a trio of top sprinters that have been added to the start list for the 100 meters at the Müller Anniversary Games – part of the IAAF Diamond League – at the London Stadium on July 20 and 21.
With 100 days to go before the meet, organizers have announced a red-hot women’s 100 field for the event.
The addition of Thompson, two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands and World championship double medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast have set up an intriguing showpiece for the dash.
They will face hometown favorite Dina Asher-Smith, last summer’s European 100 and 200 champion, who was previously announced.
The quartet hold a staggering 18 Olympic and World Championship medals between them, with the figure growing to 39 medals when taking European Championships and Commonwealth Games medals into account.
Thompson has the quickest 100 personal best of the four with a clocking of 10.70 seconds – the fifth quickest time ever recorded – and will head into the 2019 outdoor season aiming to recapture the stunning form that saw her win a historic double sprint gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
Fresh from history-making exploits last year in Berlin, where she won triple European gold over 100m, 200m and 4x100m, Asher-Smith will relish taking on some of the quickest women in the world on home soil.
Among those aiming to spoil the party is the diminutive Ta Lou, who has enjoyed back-to-back years with world 100 and 200 silver in 2017 being backed up by finishing 2018 as the joint quickest in the world over 100 alongside Asher-Smith.
Schippers, a long-time rival of Asher-Smith on both the European and global stage, will aim to re-address the balance of victories against her sprint rivals, as she will be returning to the stadium where she successfully retained her world 200 title two years ago.
