NACAC, the governing body of athletics in North American, Central American and the Caribbean (NACAC) has selected Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah as the region’s female Athlete of the Year. The award follows her brilliant season in the 100m and 200m which includes individual gold medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The 29-year-old Jamaican distinguished herself by becoming the second-fastest woman in both events in Tokyo with Jamaican record times of 10.61 and 21.53 seconds respectively. After the Olympics, she lowered her best 100-metre clocking to 10.54 seconds and pulled the world record of 10.49 seconds by American Florence Griffith-Joyner into view.

While her early-season effort saw some losses as she fought her way past an injury, the Stephen Francis coached speed merchant lost only once after the Jamaican National Championships and fired off 4 runs under 10.70 seconds.

Thompson-Herah’s NACAC victory comes in the context of an impressive showing by the women of the region in 2021. The campaign saw Olympic gold medals for Shaunae Miller-Uibo over 400m, Athing Mu in the 800m, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the 100m hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin in the 400m hurdles, and Katie Nageotte in the pole vault.

The undefeated McLaughlin became the first in history to break 52 seconds with her world record 51.90 at the US Olympic Trials and followed that with another record, 51.46 seconds to win her gold medal in Tokyo.

Thompson-Herah has also been nominated for the World Athletics Athlete of the Year Award. Competition for the award will be stiff as McLaughlin, Yulimar Rojas, Sifan Hassan all set world records in 2021.

In Tokyo

McLaughlin was even faster at 51.46 seconds. Rojas, the lanky Venezuelan, triple jumped 15.67m in the last round to erase a 26-year-old mark by 17 centimetres.

Hassan tried an audacious triple at the Olympics, winning the 5000 and 10,000 and adding the bronze medal in the 1500 metres. Undefeated in the longer events, Hassan set a world record in the 10,000 metres – 29 minutes 06.82 seconds on June 6.

It was broken days later by the eventual Olympic bronze medallist, Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.

Elsewhere

Thompson-Herah wasn’t the only Jamaican sprinter to receive an award on the weekend. Briana Williams, her teammate on the winning Olympic gold medal 4×100 team, was honoured in Sunrise, Florida on Sunday. The 19-year-old Olympian was recognized for her youth leadership and her broader influence across the globe.

The Consulate General of Jamaica’s Heritage Award was established to recognize outstanding and dedicated service by individuals and businesses to the Jamaican community. Williams was among this year’s awardees.

Consul General, Oliver Mair, described her in glowing terms.

“She is a shining example of excellence not only to Jamaicans at home and abroad of what you can achieve with hard work, dedication, commitment backed by God-given talent.”

The 19-year-old Williams is coached by Ato Boldon, the 1997 World 200m champion.