Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah has been selected as the Female Athlete of the Year for 2021 by no less than the respected US publication TRACK AND FIELD NEWS.

This award follows 2 similar honours bestowed on the 29-year-old sprinter recently. Last month, World Athletics and the British journal ATHLETICS WEEKLY both named her as their female Athlete of the Year in a double acknowledgement of a sublime 2021 season in which she has brought the world records for the 100 and 200 metres within reach.

Asked about her battle with Achilles tendon trouble, she said,

“I keep fighting through all those obstacles and those hurdles that I’ve been hurdling. For me to come back and dominate, I still came to work, I still put up the fight. I keep dreaming, keep doing what I do to inspire younger generations.”

A TRACK AND FIELD NEWS internet post on December 21 itemized her motivation for her 2021 campaign. The 2016 Olympic 100/200 winner had been writing a series of affirmations every day:

“I will run 10.5. I will run 21.5. I can do it. I am a winner. I am a champion. I will be the fastest woman alive. Say it, believe it, work for it and pray for it. I will be the double Olympic champion. Today is my day. I am the greatest.”

In Tokyo, she delivered the first repeat sprint double by a woman in Olympic history: 10.61 seconds to lead Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce and Shericka Jackson home in the 100m, 21.53 seconds to win the 200m.

A few weeks later, she zoomed 10.54 for the 100m, just 0.05 off the world record of 10.49 seconds.

Thompson-Herah is just the second Jamaican woman to earn this honour from TRACK AND FIELD NEWS. The great Merlene Ottey topped the venerable magazine’s annual rankings in 1990 after a super season in the 100 and 200 metres.