BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT THE LONDON STADIUM

Following on from the shock victory of Justin Gatlin in the 100metres yesterday, another shock took place today as Tori Bowie won the women’s 100m in 10.85seconds.  Marie-Josee Ta Lou led for most of the race and was on the verge of becoming the first African male or female to win the sprint final. However, her inexperience kicked in as she failed to dip on the line was caught by Bowie. She lost the gold by 1/100th of a second as she finished in 10.86s.  Dafnee Schippers took the Bronze. 

 Bowie said:”The dive doesn’t feel too good now. But that has saved me at championships in the past. I never give up until I’m over the line.

“Ta Lou went away fast but she always is. It didn’t bother me and I just kept pumping my legs and arms until the finish.  I have a few cuts but I’ll be ready for the 200m. I’m not afraid of what is to come.”

The biggest shock was that the double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, could only finish in 5^th place.  She was a dead cert to win this race but the unpredictability is why we love sports. She said: “I have to give those three girls a lot of credit, so a big congratulations to them. I didn’t execute my race, which is a shame but I’m healthy.

“I don’t know what happened. I just wanted to get a good start but they raced well. I’ll have to watch the video back because I don’t know what went wrong

“From lane nine I was far away from my competitors so I am very happy to get a medal from the outside lane.

“My start was not great. The blocks were slightly down when I drove out. Maybe I was unfortunate. But I made it back into the race.

“I knew it was going to be tough. Everyone has been running well, so it was going to be difficult to get in the medals, so I’m happy to do it.”

Ta Lou can hold her head up as she still did Africa proud. It was heartbreak for her compatriot Murielle Ahoure finished in fourth place and outside the medals. She said: “I am just happy to have this medal. It’s a dream come true. I didn’t expect to be in the top three because all the girls have the power and talent to make the podium. After every competition I get stronger, I thank God for the power he gives me.”

In the Heptathlon, the Olympic Champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium became the World Champion as she won with 6784 points. Thiam’s father is from Senegal. She said: “It was a really difficult year, with a lot of pressure but I managed to produce a great performance.

“The thing with sport is, it doesn’t always pay off when you work hard and you’re never really sure if you’re going to produce something great. I’m doing great things at the moment but I know hard times are going to come at some point, they do for everyone.

“But as long as it’s going good I’m going to use my happiness as motivation.”