| Shelly-Ann Fraser heads clean sweep in Beijing |
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| Caribbean - Regional News & Articles | ||||||||||
| Thursday, 21 August 2008 16:26 | ||||||||||
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Her triumph in 10.78sec came ahead of Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who could not be separated in 10.98. They will both receive silver medals. The Bird's Nest Stadium swayed to the reggae beat again when Shelly-Ann Fraser led the first Jamaican sweep of the medals in the women's 100 metres. It was the first time in the Olympics that one country had swept the women's 100m and the first time over the distance since the US men in Stockholm in 1912. "We made history," said Simpson. "We are all great athletes and I am very excited about the tremendous achievement we have made for our country." Only 24 hours after Usain Bolt's swashbuckling world record in the men's event, Fraser waited until she had crossed the line before punching the air with the clock stopped at 10.78sec, the fastest winning time since 1988. Behind her, it took a photograph to determine that Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart had dead-heated for silver medals in 10.98sec. Fraser, who won the 100m silver medal at last summer's World Championships, said: "About 50 metres out, I glimpsed to the sides and I smiled. Then I powered through the line. When I crossed the line and saw Sherone and Kerron there, that was the moment and I wouldn't trade it for anything." No Jamaican woman had won the Olympic 100m title before, with Juliet Cuthbert in 1992, and Merlene Ottey in 1996, being the closest with silvers. Stewart said: "Coming into the Olympics people thought we were not experienced enough, but give us a chance to do something and we make the most of it." The US appealed against the result, insisting that one of their own athletes should have been punished for a false start. Their complaint was thrown out, however.
The tally so far:
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Jamaica might be mad about the boy, but last night they were pretty ecstatic about their women sprinters, too. Five minutes short of 24 hours after the brilliance of Usain Bolt, his team-mate Shelly-Ann Fraser led home a clean sweep for the country to make Olympic 100m history.
