When it comes to the Beijing Olympic sprints, nobody does it better than the Jamaicans. Yeah, mon, the Caribbean island of 2.8 million people capped the first gold-medal sweep of men's and women's 100-meter dashes since 1912 with a rare 1-2-2 sweep of the women's race. After never winning Olympic gold in the 100, Jamaica got two in as many days.
Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women's 100 meter 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 won the men’s 100 meter dash in a world record time of 9.69.
Fraser smiled wide, showing her 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. 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 to determine second place. 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.
Jamaica's big win turned into a giant disappointment for the United States. Lauryn Williams finished fourth, Muna Lee fifth and Torri Edwards last. Making it even more impressive is that the woman widely considered Jamaica's best at this distance, defending world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, wasn't even in the field, after failing to qualify at the country's Olympic trials.
Her spot went to Fraser, the least accomplished of the Jamaican sprinters - at least until now. She is only 21 and didn't have a time under 11 seconds before this year. The highlight on her resume before now was the silver medal she won as part of the Jamaican relay team at last year's world championships.
Speaking of relays - it's not hard to pick a favorite for that women's 400 relay Friday. Jamaica won the gold medal at the Athens Olympics four years ago, though it was hard to know whether Jamaica was truly the fastest team because Williams and Marion Jones botched their handoff and the traditionally strong American team didn't finish the race.
Jamaicans now hold the titles of “World’s Fastest Man” and “World’s Fastest Woman”. In what was the domain of the United States, Jamaica is now the power house in the sprints and as such the world’s sprint factory.
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