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Jamaicans Sweep 100 Final

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The Associated Press

Published: August 18, 2008

BEIJING - When it comes to Olympic sprints, nobody does it better than the Jamaicans.

The Caribbean island of 2.8 million people capped the first gold-medal double of men's and women's 100-meter dashes since 1988 with a rare gold-silver-silver in the women's race. It also was the first medals sweep of any 100 since 1912, and the first ever for the women's 100 in any Olympics or world championship. After never winning Olympic gold in the 100, Jamaica got two in as many days.

Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women's dash Sunday, pumping her fist as she was clocked in 10.78 seconds. Teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart finished in a dead heat for the silver, 0.20 second back - the same margin Jamaica's Usain Bolt won by Friday night when he hot-dogged to the finish in 9.69.

Fraser knew she had won and smiled wide, showing those braces, and then went to pick up the green, yellow and black Jamaican flag. It was the widest margin of victory in an Olympic women's 100 final since 1988, when Florence Griffith-Joyner set the world record.

"When I was thinking about it, I was getting ahead of myself," Fraser said about a gold medal. "I was like, 'Calm down. First you need to go out there and do it.'"

She did, and after she crossed the finish line more than a body length in the lead, reggae music played in the background during a three-minute delay while judges looked at the photo finish. There was no way to split the difference, so Jamaica got the top three spots and didn't even have to settle for a bronze.

"It's about time," Stewart said when asked what the sweep meant. "We've been waiting on this. So many great athletes have come so close."

Jamaica's big win turned into a giant disappointment for the United States. Lauryn Williams finished fourth, Muna Lee fifth and Torri Edwards last.

Williams didn't sound like someone who felt she had been cheated.

"We've dominated for years, and now it's their time," Williams said.

The women's 100 wasn't the only U.S. disappointment at the Bird's Nest on the third day of the Olympic track meet.

In the men's 1,500, the American success story of Bernard Lagat, Leo Manzano and U.S. team flagbearer Lopez Lomong - all naturalized citizens competing for their new country for the first time at the Olympics - came to a sudden halt. All three failed to advance to the final.

Lomong and Manzano each finished last in their semifinals. Lagat, the reigning world champion, finished sixth in his - one place out of the final automatic spot and .02 second behind the final wild-card qualifier.

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