Tokyo (AFP)
Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn was crowned Olympic champion in the 100m hurdles, winning the second gold medal in Games history for her country on Monday in Tokyo, after Monica Puig's tennis title in 2016.
In 12 sec 36, Camacho-Quinn edged American world record holder Kendra Harrison (12.52) and Jamaican Megan Tapper (12.55).
The 24-year-old Puerto Rican did not repeat in the final her performance of the semifinals on Sunday, where she fell to 6 hundredths from the world record (12.26, 6th fastest in history, Olympic record).
Camacho-Quinn triumphed in her first international final, in the midst of an incredible season: she won 16 of her 17 races in 2021.
She could have known the great thrill in 2016 at 19, the year of her explosion, but she had smashed the 9th hurdle in the semi-finals of the Rio Games, a disillusion that she had taken a long time to digest.
"I didn't want to see anyone on campus. I felt ashamed, like I had let my whole country down. But I had finally received a lot of love," she said.
Born in the United States, the Puerto Rican, the country of her mother, Camacho-Quinn has been hampered by injuries for four years, preventing her from being consistent despite top performance at a very high level.
It was the Irishman John Coghlan, a former physical trainer for the Gaelic sports teams in County Meath (east), who led her to the Olympic title.
Camacho-Quinn dominated his former University of Kentucky training partner Kendra Harrison on Monday, who stayed with renowned Edrick Floreal (former coach of Sydney McLaughlin and Omar McLeod).
Already vice-world champion, Harrison won her first Olympic medal with silver at the age of 28.
The American closed the 2016 injury when she failed to qualify for the Rio Games, taking revenge a few weeks later by setting a new world record (12.20).
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