•Thompson-Herah returns to the venue where she nearly broke American Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 100m record last year
Image: REUTERS
Jamaica’s Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and American prodigy Sha’Carri Richardson will headline the 100 metres at Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, organisers for the Diamond League event said on Monday.
Thompson-Herah returns to the venue where she nearly broke American Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 100m record last year, weeks after leading a Jamaican podium sweep at the Tokyo Games.
She dropped out of the Birmingham Diamond League meet over the weekend citing discomfort in training. Thompson-Herah’s management agency did not respond to a request for comment. Richardson’s memories of Hayward Field are more complicated.
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Richardson, 22, returned to Eugene in August after serving a 30-day suspension, where she finished last in the 100m.
Rounding out the field on Saturday are Britain’s 200 metres world champion Dina Asher-Smith and Shericka Jackson, who won gold in the 4x100m relay alongside Thompson-Herah in Tokyo.
Italy's double Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs has withdrawn from this weekend's Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, due to a muscle injury, Italy's athletics federation (FIDAL) said.
The federation said Jacobs picked up the injury in his 100 metres win last week at a meet in Savona, Italy.
Speaking after the race, which was his first over 100 metres since claiming gold in Tokyo, Jacobs said he had struggled and that he lacked sharpness.
"The federal medical staff has prescribed the two-time Tokyo Olympic champion 10 days of rest and combined rehabilitation protocol," FIDAL said in a statement.
"Jacobs will therefore remain in Rome where, with coach Paolo Camossi, he will proceed to full recovery in view of future appointments."
Jacobs became the first Italian to win Olympic 100 metres gold in Tokyo last August, setting a European record time of 9.80 seconds in the final, before adding a second gold to his collection in the 4x100 metres relay.
He ended his 2021 season early citing exhaustion and returned to the track in February.