As it went in the men’s 100m final, so it followed in the women’s race on Sunday night. Elaine Thompson, Jamaica’s Olympic champion, was beaten by Tori Bowie, the US athlete who had finished second behind her in Rio last year. If anything Thompson was an even heavier favourite to win than Usain Bolt had been but where he finished third, she came in fifth. Bowie pipped Marie-Josée Ta Lou, from Cote d’Ivoire, with a dive across the line. Her winning time was 10.85sec and Ta Lou was less than a single hundredth of a second behind her. Dafne Schippers was third in 10.96.

Thompson finished in 10.98. She had run 10.84 in the semi-final earlier in the evening and 10.71 at the Jamaican Championships back in July. She was the favourite right until the gun went but then she stumbled leaving the blocks. From there she was never able to get back into the race. She seemed to tighten up as she tried to chase down Ta Lou, two lanes over. Ta Lou led until the very final strides, when Bowie, gaining all the while, threw herself in a dive over the line and off her feet. She did not know she had won until someone told her and even then she was not sure she believed them. “I had no idea. All I knew was I wanted to give it everything I’ve got,” Bowie said. “Am I really world champion?”

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Bowie is one of those talented athletes who had her pick of a bunch of disciplines. She has a personal best of 6.95m in the long jump and 13.09m in the triple jump. They will likely stay that way, since she has grown into such a great sprinter since she started taking it seriously in 2014.

Thompson was gracious to a fault. “I came out here with a brave heart and a strong mind. It didn’t go as I had planned but at the end of the day I have to give those girls a lot of credit,” she said. “I’m disappointed but I’m healthy and I’m injury free so I’ll pick myself up and move forward.” She had been suffering with an achilles injury earlier in the season but said she was fine now. “I can’t complain. I can’t re-run that race. It is what it is. I have to give those girls lots of credit, congratulate them and continue to push forward,” she said. “I’ve a bright future. I’m only 25. There’s a lot coming up in front of me. This defeat will help me push forward in 2019, 2020.”

Thompson had qualified in 10.84 without ever seeming to approach full throttle. She was slowest but one to react to the gun, promptly shot into the lead and then wound down when there were still 30 metres or so to go. It was the kind of run that makes the bookies race to cut their odds, which were already so short they seemed silly. But then the 10.71 Thompson ran in June was not just the fastest time in the world this year; it was faster than anyone else competing here had ever run by a stretch. The only woman around who has matched it, Thompson’s training partner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, is not competing here because she is heavily pregnant.

If Thompson had run as well as she is capable of, she would have won by a streak. Instead she will have to wait a long while for another shot. She could have run the double this week, as she did in Rio last year, but her coach, Stephen Francis, decided that he did not want her to compete in the 200m. He says Thompson will not compete in both sprints at a major championship again until the next Olympic Games in 2020. She insisted she did not regret the decision and has said before that she felt the two events were a lot to take on in Rio, though one would never have guessed it from the way she ran. Bowie, on the other hand, has entered both but has not made her mind up whether she will actually start in the 200m heats. She said that she is up for it but wanted to sleep on the decision before making up her mind for sure.

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No one in the sport will begrudge Bowie her gold medal. She is one of the most humble athletes on the circuit. “I was just trying to get to the line first and that’s what happened today,” she said. “I’m extremely grateful for every medal I’ve received but, winning tonight, I just feel like all my hard work has really paid off.” She did not know what else to say. “You can tell I haven’t put much thought into this yet. I’m just very thankful.”

She was born in Sand Hill, which is the most notable fact about that little village. Only 90 or so people live there. It does not even have a single stop light. She and her younger sister were put into foster care when they were two and then raised by their grandmother. “One day I hope that I can come to Sand Hill and there’s this huge sign that says, ‘Welcome to Sand Hill, home of Tori Bowie,’” she said last year. They should start work on it soon, if they have not already.