Kishane Thompson ran the world’s fastest 100m in a decade, becoming the sixth-fastest man in history, while Tina Clayton won her first senior Jamaican title and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made her ninth and final World Championship team.
Thompson, edged by Noah Lyles for 2024 Olympic 100m gold by five thousandths of a second (9.784 to 9.789), ran 9.75 seconds at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston on Friday night. He had a .8 meter/second tailwind.
It’s the world’s fastest time since 2015 when American Justin Gatlin ran 9.74, 9.75 and 9.75 in a two-month span.
Thompson improved his personal best by two hundredths to become the sixth-fastest man in history behind Usain Bolt (world record 9.58), Yohan Blake (9.69), Tyson Gay (9.69), Asafa Powell (9.72) and Gatlin (9.74).
Thompson, 23, is the third-youngest man to run 9.75 or faster after his fellow Jamaicans Bolt and Blake.
“I’m that confident; I don’t think if I even broke the world record it would surprise me, honestly,” Thompson said, adding that he could have executed his race better. “I’m just going to put that out there.”
Thompson goes into the World Championships in Tokyo in September looking to snap the U.S. streak at four consecutive men’s 100m titles since Bolt won his third and final title in 2015.
Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic and world champion, last raced April 19 and has since dealt with a minor ankle injury. Lyles earned a bye into worlds as a reigning world champion, so he does not have to be at full fitness until September.
Also Friday. Clayton ran personal bests in Friday’s semifinals (10.93) and final (10.81) for her first senior Jamaican title. No Jamaican woman has ever run that fast before turning 21 years old.
“I didn’t expect this time,” said Clayton, the world U20 champion in 2021 and 2022. “Based on how I was going in training, I knew that I would PB, but not that fast.”
The fastest women in the world this year are American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (10.73), the Olympic bronze medalist, and Julien Alfred (10.75) of Saint Lucia, the Olympic gold medalist.
Clayton was followed in Friday’s final by world 200m champion Shericka Jackson (10.88) and then Fraser-Pryce (10.91) in what she said was her last race in Jamaica before retiring later this year.
Fraser-Pryce, a 38-year-old with a record seven combined Olympic and world 100m titles, is due to compete at a ninth world championships. Jamaica will have at least three 100m spots at worlds, plus she’s automatically in the 4x100m relay pool.
“I’m grateful for that fighting spirit,” Fraser-Pryce said, noting that her first worlds were also in Japan — as a preliminary round relay runner in 2007.
Fraser-Pryce will move one shy of the record 10 worlds appearances for a sprinter shared by American Allyson Felix and Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
She can become the oldest woman to win a World Championships medal in any sprint event, including relays, and the oldest female or male sprinter to win an individual world medal.
The current oldest female sprint medalist is Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, who won 4x100m silver in 2009 at age 37. Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey was a younger 37 when she won 200m bronze in 1997.
Fraser-Pryce’s 10 career World Championships gold medals are third in history behind Felix (14) and Usain Bolt (11). Her 16 career World Championships medals of any color are second to Felix (20).
Fraser-Pryce originally planned to retire after the 2024 Olympic season.
But then at the Paris Games, she withdrew before the 100m semifinals. A reason for her withdrawal was not announced.
In January 2025, Fraser-Pryce said she would come back for one more season. In a social media post in April, she said she had unfinished business.
The U.S. team for the World Championships will largely be determined at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships from July 31-Aug. 3 in Eugene, Oregon.
Olympic 100m silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson earned a bye onto the U.S. team as a reigning world champion from 2023.
Faith Kipyegon got closer to four minutes for a mile than any woman in history.