Due to an Achilles injury, Elaine Thompson-Herah, the two-time Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters, will not compete in Paris.
The five-time Olympic gold champion, 31-year-old Jamaican, needed to be helped off the track after suffering the injury on June 9 during the New York City Grand Prix.
After opting not to compete in the Jamaica 200-meter trials, Thompson-Herah, who is the only sprinter outside of her native country, Usain Bolt, to win multiple Olympic titles in both the 100- and 200-meter events, was hoping to defend her 100-meter title.
She claimed that her hopes of competing in a third Olympics were dashed by a “small tear on my Achilles tendon”.
Thompson-Herah posted on Instagram, “It’s a long road, but I am willing to start over, keep working, to make full recovery and resume my track career.”
“I am hurt and devastated to be missing the Olympics this year but at the end of the day it’s sports and my health comes first.” The women’s 100-meter gold medal winners at the last four Olympics have been Jamaicans.
Five years after winning gold in the 100 and 200 meters in Rio de Janeiro, Thompson-Herah successfully defended her championships in Tokyo.
